Like Brother, Like Sister
by Boombubble
Summary: Tai and Kari strike a deal after they each admit how they feel for certain someones. The problem is how to tell them, and of course complete chaos ensues along the way.


(Howdy! This isn't my first fan fiction, but it is my first attempt at a Digimon fic. I'm sure you've figured out by the title, Kari and Tai are featured in this fic. Just for the record, I know Tai is supposed to be three years older than Kari, but I'm sure he's not exactly three years older than she is. For this fic, just assume he's a little less. This is based off a rather general idea, but I made this as orginal and different as I possibly could. To tell the thruth I don't think I've seen any Digimon fic's following this plotline yet. At least I haven't read any. For those of you wondering this is Taiora and Takari, so if you don't like those couples I suggest you bail out now. I know it's hard to get into a story where you don't care about the characters involved, regardless of how good or bad it may be. So leave now, and don't bother me and I won't bother you, and we'll get along just fine.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Warning: This fic contains mind numbing sap and mush that may cause some to cry, and others to vomit. Either way then I've done my job. If this fic contains too much mind numbing fluff, then good! That's the way it's supposed to be! I love this stuff..."

Like Brother, Like Sister

"Come on! Where is it?!" Tai asked himself, as he trashed his dresser. He turned every drawer upside down, but found no signs of what he was searching for. Next, he braved looking under his bed. He pulled out some dirty socks, a hockey stick, a pair of old roller skates, one chin guard, an old pizza box still with two slices inside. They had changed to some sort of color not found in the rainbow, and he found a wide variety of bugs crawling around inside.

"Ewe gross!" he gagged, and held his nose. "The last time I had pizza was over three weeks ago!"

Next he rummaged through his shelves, still full of unorganized books and papers dating as far back as the 2nd grade. He told himself this numerous times before, but he couldn't believe what a messy kid he was. On the plus side he did finally find that history assignment he had lost... that was due a week and a half ago. 

"Next time I get some spare time I'm going to finally straighten up this room, and I'm going to remember this time!"

Tai forgot about ten seconds later. His closet was the only place left to look, so that's where he went next. He searched through the pockets of all of his jeans and shorts. He didn't find what he was looking for, but he did salvage a buck fifty in change, and a rough piece of paper. The ink was almost too dim to read from being run through the washing machine God knows how many times. He grunted, and stuffed everything in his pockets, only to forget about them again later that night. He burrowed his way through the contents of the jumbled mess in his closet before frustration got the best of him, and he began throwing items left and right. He tossed out a soccer ball, a skating helmet, a couple extra pillows, and another old pizza box. Thankfully this one was empty. He stopped and starred at a stuffed animal he held in both hands that held a close resemblance to Agumon. 

"Where did I get this from?" He shrugged his head and tossed it over his shoulder.

Kari was watching him from the hallway, and decided it was about time she put an end to his misery. What had started off funny, was know seeming rather pathetic. 

"I think you dropped this," she said, as she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Dropped what?" he asked slightly annoyed. Not at her, but at not being able to find his prize. He didn't bother to turn around, and continued to shuffle through his closet. 

"Your hockey puck." She read the signature on the back. "Mario Leu-Who?"

"Be careful with that!" he said, as he snatched it from her hand. It was a gift he had gotten from Mimi on one of her visits home from America. "That's going to be worth some money someday.

"I'm not the one who threw it across the apartment," she laughed.

"I did?" He realized he wasn't paying enough attention to what he was tossing around. He placed it safely on his dresser, and then resumed tearing into his closet. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, as her eyes fell on the mess scattered around her older brother's room. It was times like this she was glad her mother let her turn that old utility room into a third bedroom, so she wouldn't have to deal with this on a daily basis. It was even worse than usual, and she never thought that was possible before now. 

"I'm looking for something. Now if you don't mind it's kind of private, so could you please leave me alone until I find it?"

"This wouldn't be what your looking for would it?" Kari flashed a picture in front of her brother's face. 

Tai's cheeks instantly flushed red, as he snatched it from her hand. "Where did you find this?!"  


"You dropped it on the floor when you came home from school," she replied.

Tai examined the photo, and sighed with relief. It was still in good condition. It was a simple picture of him and Sora standing in front of a large tree in the park. Kari knew the picture well since she was the one that had taken it for them almost a year before. 

"Thank you..."

"Why don't you go ahead, and frame it or something?" Kari suggested. "It'll save you from having to go through all the trouble of losing it again."

Tai's face seemed to panic at the mere idea of this. "That's not necessary Kari! I already have pictures of me, with all my friends scattered around the house."

"Yeah, but those are group photo's, most of them with all of us together. That's one with just the two of you, and I know that's why it's special to you."

"It's no more special to me than any of my other pictures Kari."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "That's why you tore through your room like the Tasmanian Devil looking for it huh? You just don't want anyone coming into your room and seeing it do you?"

"Drop it Kari!" he barked. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to start cleaning up the mess I made."

"Whatever." Kari shrugged her shoulders, and exited the room.

Tai sat up, and shut the door behind her. He sat back on his bed, and looked at his picture with a smile. It was a simple friendly picture really. He had his arm draped around her shoulder, had one eye winking, and that big old toothy grin he was famous for. Sora wore a much simpler smile, one arm around his waist, and her other hand sporting the victory sign with her fingers right at her chest. Every time he looked at it he noticed how much they looked like the best of friends in the picture. That upset him more than just a bit, because that picture meant so much more to him. He remembered the day it was taken. All seven of them were together at the park one day. The new digi-destined hadn't been revealed yet, and Mimi was already living in America. He had dragged his sister and Sora away from the rest of the crew, and asked Kari to snap the picture for him. The only excuse he could come up with was that they hadn't taken a decent picture alone together since they were eight, which was true. He wouldn't tell her the real reason he wanted it though. He couldn't. There was nothing better than a little thing called love to ruin a perfectly good friendship. They had been friends way to long, and he valued that too much to risk throwing it away. Still it was there, something that started brewing before they were barely out of the crib. All that time they spent together in the Digital World just seemed to strengthen those bonds a little more everyday. Besides his sister Kari, Sora was the one person in life he was closest too. It hadn't surprised him much that Kari had caught on some time ago, but he would never admit that out loud. Sora had never really done or said anything to make him think she may have ever thought about him that way, so he kept it to himself. He looked at that picture, and couldn't find any trace of it in her face. She looked like she was taking a picture with a friend. It was a much different story with him though. He could easily tell what he was thinking, and it was written all over his face. The slight red tint in his cheeks for example, and his open eye edging towards the corner so he could look at Sora. Maybe he would have the guts to tell her someday. Crest of Courage indeed. Then again facing his heart was much more frightening than any evil Digimon he had ever come across. 

Tai sighed, and slipped the picture in his shirt pocket, which was where he usually hid it. He stood up and examined the carnage his search had left in its wake, and tried to figure out a decent way of cleaning this mess up to where his room actually looked at least halfway decent. After about 2 minutes of that, he decided the hell with it, and put everything back where he found it except for the two pizza boxes, which he finally threw in the trash. 

Kari was flipping through the channels on the living room television, and as usual nothing was on at that time of day. She settled for a strange looking Anime with a bunch of girls in sailor outfits, and some whinny girl with a meatball haircut. Gatomon was stretched out on the couch next to her sleeping soundly. Kari's parents weren't home at the moment so Gatomon had the run of the house for a while, and of course that was how she chose to spend it. 

"He's so hopeless," Kari sighed. "Who does he think he's trying to fool anyway?"

Gatomon stretched, and yawned. "You talking to me?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you Gatomon. I was talking about Tai."

"You mean about him and Sora I assume," she said sleepily.

Kari's eyes widen, as she looked at her Digimon. "How did you know about that?"

"Come on Kari, it's not like it's a big secret or anything," she cracked. "Pattamon and I talk about it all the time. You haven't noticed TK start giggling every time he sees Sora and Tai together?"

"No, not really," she lied. She always wondered why he did that.

"Yeah right," Gatomon scoffed. "Like there's really anything about TK you haven't noticed."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Now who are you trying to fool?"

Luckily for Kari she was saved by her brother, who was stalking through the living room towards the kitchen. "I know you two are talking about me, so you might as well stop. None of it's true."

"If none of its true then why do you keep getting so upset by it?"

"I thought you were going to meet TK to study?!" 

Kari's face cringed, and she turned away. Gatoman's ears flattened, and she laid her head against the sofa, sensing the storm clouds gathering. "My plans have changed."

"Kari?" Tai immediately grew concerned with the angry tone in her voice. He walked over to the couch, and sat down with Gatomon in between him and his sister. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Let's just say TK has better things to do with his time right now," she said flatly.

"What happened? Did you two have some kind of fight or something?" he asked.

"Not really," she snipped.

"Then why are you mad at him?"

"It's not him at mad at per say...," Gatomon sweat dropped, and imagined hearing thundering cracking in the distance. "Just drop it Tai! I don't want to talk about this!"

"If TK's not available, then why don't you try someone else from class. Yolie's pretty smart, and what about that new girl in your class?"

"DON'T GO THERE TAI!" Gatomon begged, now feeling the raindrops splashing against her head but it could've been more sweat, but she was to late.

"Izzie's cousin Casey? I've heard she's..." 

"I'M SORRY, BUT LITTLE MISS CASEY WOULD BE THE LAST THE LAST PERSON I'D ASK!" 

Absolutely fuming red, Kari bolted up from the couch, and stormed into her room. Gatomon felt herself being sucked through the tail of an oncoming tornado.

Tai sweat dropped. "What the heck was that all about?"

"I tried to warn you," Gatomon sighed.

"Do you know what the heck is going on?"

"Of course," she said mater of fact like. "I would never betray Kari's trust, so you'll understand I can't tell you any details. However, I can update you on the latest gossip from around the school. Let's just say that Casey has a bit of a thing for TK."

"Say no more," Tai said, with a smirk. "I think I'll have to have a heart to heart with my little sister."

Tai knocked on his sister's door, and entered her room without receiving permission. Kari was sitting on her bed with her knees bent up under her chin.

"I didn't say you could come in," she said, without looking at him.

"Since when did either of us have to ask when we knew something was bothering the other?"

"Nothing's bothering me Tai," she groaned.

"Don't even start Kari," he said, as he sat down next to her. "First of all I almost never see you get this agitated or annoyed with anything, and I almost never see you upset with TK. At least nothing major."

"I'm not upset with TK! You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"I know more than you think."

"And what is it you think you know?" she scoffed clearly skeptical.

"Well I've heard through the grapevine that Casey has a bit of crush on TK," he smirked. "And I think you might be a little jealous."

"YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND TAI! Why would I be jealous?!"

"Yeah, Just a little bit..."

"I am not!" she grunted disgustedly. "TK has the right to hang around with any girl he wants. He has plenty of friends other than me."

"Then why do you seem so upset by it?" he asked.

Kari's face cringed. "He's my best friend, and I think he can do a lot better than her!"

Tai smiled wickedly. "And what do you have against Casey? I've met her, and she seems like a really sweet girl?"

"Just drop it Tai!" She turned away from him, and draped her legs over the side of her bed.

Tai giggled at first, but stopped when he heard Kari sob softly. "I'm sorry Kari. I didn't mean to hit a soft spot."

"I'm fine Tai. I have something in my eyes..."

"You couldn't come up with a better excuse than that? There's no point in hiding it from me. It's fairly obvious that neither one of us are very good at it."

"Oh Yeah..."

"I think it runs in the family," he continued. "Remember that Mom had to put one foot inside a plane to China before Dad finally purposed to her."

"So I've heard," she laughed. "So..., what does this mean Tai? Are you finally admitting that you like Sora?"

Tai blushed and lowered his head. "That depends... Are you going to admit you think of TK as more than just a friend?"

"What?!... Well I..." she stammered turning blood red. "What makes you so sure that I have feelings for TK anyway?!"

"Come on Kari!" he laughed, but in a serious tone. "I could see there was something happening between you two when you guys were eight, and so did everybody else. We weren't quite sure what it was until you guys grew up a little. It's pretty obvious now that I think about it. All the signs have pointed to it."

"Tai... What about you?!" she asked suddenly.

"You tell me your secret first, and I'll tell you mine. Come on. If you can't tell me, then who can you talk to?"

Kari grunted in disgust. "Fine! I do care about TK... more than just my best friend. And I always have..."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he pried, trying to pry a deeper answer out of her.

"Please don't make me say it Tai!" she begged. "You already know the answer..."

"Okay Kari," he giggled.

"Now it's your turn!" She pointed her index finger in his face causing him to blush.

"Well... Kay... A deal's a deal," he sighed. "I... I like Sora..."

"You like Sora?" she asked, unsatisfied with his answer.

"Okay, Okay!" He frowned at first, but it quickly changed to a smile. "I love Sora. This may sound a little weird, but I have since we were five. I was just that I was to young to realize it at the time."

"That doesn't sound crazy at all," she said with a smile. "You should really tell her Tai. You two would make such a cute couple."

"Excuse me?!" he asked, as he raised an eyebrow. "How about taking your own advice before giving it to me?"

"But I can't just do that Tai! I just can't spring something like that on him! I can lose him completely, and I don't know if I want to risk that..."

"Gee I can't relate to that," he said very sarcastically. "Look, that's one of the things that scares the heck out of me to. Still, the more I think about it the more I know I can't hide it forever. If they really are our friends they'll understand either way.

"That's not it Tai," she continued. "I don't know if he thinks of me the same way, and there's that Casey..."

"Do you think TK likes her?"

"I'm not sure." 

Tai seemed to think things over for a moment. "I'll make you a deal Kari. It's Sunday night, and we're off from school the next couple days. It doesn't matter how, but we should at least agree to try to tell Sora and TK how we feel about them. At least we won't be facing this alone. What do you say Kari?"

"Well... I guess it wouldn't kill me to at least try..."

"That a girl!" He raised his hand to his sister's face. "So it's agreed."

Kari took an extra second to think it over. She wrapped her pinky around his and they shook on it. "Agreed."

"You know we haven't done this since we were little bitty kids," he joked.

"This means you can't go back on it!" she reminded him. "Hey Tai... If you knew all along how I felt about TK, then why did you act like you wanted to fix me up with Davis?"

"Fix you up with Davis?! You have to be kidding me?!"

"What do you mean? I thought you liked Davis?"

"I do like Davis Kari," he answered. "He reminds me a lot of me, but that's just the problem. He reminds me too much of me, and he's the last person in the world I want dating my baby sister! I was joking with him sometimes, because I know he has a crush on you."

"Then why do you tease me about him all the time?" she asked, growing annoyed.

"Because I knew it annoyed the heck out of you!" 

"Why you!" She playfully punched him in the arm. "I don't find that funny at all!"

"Well anyway," Tai began, as he sat up. "I have to figure out a way to pull this off. This might take some time, so if you'll excuse me."

"Take your time, and no weaseling out of it!"

"You either little sister."

Tai opened her door to leave, when he heard a loud clunk and a high-pitched ouch. He looked behind the door and found Gatomon laid out of the floor rubbing her head. Tai stared down at her, and shook his head.

"That's what you get for spying Gatomon. You shouldn't be listening in on other people's conversations."

"I wasn't spying!" she declared, as she jumped to her feet. "Besides... It's not like you were talking about anything I haven't heard before." 

Gatomon bounded around Tai, and into Kari's room. She jumped on the bed next to Kari, and smiled as only she could.

"I guess you heard everything," Kari asked.

"Yeah. Are you really going to go through with it?"

"I guess so...," Kari sighed. "I said I would, and I'm not going back on my word... I don't know. What do you think about all this Gatomon?"

"It's about time." Gatomon smiled at her, and jumped off the bed.

"Where are you going?" she asked her, surprised at her response.

"I have a previous engagement...," she said unconvincingly. "I'll see you later Kari. Good luck."

"Yeah... I'm going to need a lot of it..." 

Kari watched helplessly as her Digimon left her to deal with her problem on her own. She closed her door after her, and sat back down on her bed to figure out how she got herself into this situation. A smile crossed her face as her thoughts turned to TK. She had always had a bit of a crush on him even when they were little, and she would've been fine with admitting that only a few months ago. That had become so much more difficult now that she had come to grips with the fact that it wasn't just a simple crush any longer. It had grown into something much more than that, and she was falling hard for him. She asked herself why, and immediately received a flood of answers rushing through her head.

*He's always so friendly and caring, and he's never more than a phone call away when I need him, and he always does his best to make sure I know it. He's always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on, when I just need someone to talk to, and he goes out of his way just to try and make me smile. He seems to know just by looking at me if there's something bothering me, if I'm angry, what to say to me when I'm depressed, or when just to leave me alone all together... He always has a nice thing to say about everyone, and would give his right arm to help a friend. Even with Davis. It's amazing. Most of the time, Davis treats him like dirt, but there are times TK will stand up for him when nobody else will. He's the best friend I ever could've asked for, and he's oh so cute! He's got the loveliest set of bright ocean-blue eyes that are so deep sometimes I'm afraid I might drown in them. I know there have been times where I've caught myself just staring into them, and I know he's going to catch me doing it sooner or later. There's just something so peaceful about them, and a special glint in them I notice sometimes that tells me he's always going to be there for me. His smile's so bright and warm I swear it could melt ice. There's a certain one I've noticed he's gives only for me, what Gatomon said about their not being anything about TK I haven't noticed was basically true, and it makes my entire day just to see it sprawled across his beautiful face. I'm not sure what it means, but I know what I would like for it to mean. How could I have helped but to fall in love with him. I wasn't trying to I swear it... But you made it so easy Takeru. You are the best friend I ever had, and I cherish that so much. The thought of doing anything to ruin that scares me to death. I guess I could live knowing you didn't love me, I wouldn't have a choice. However, I'm not sure I could stand not having you with me at all... I don't want to do anything that would drive you away from me completely. No. I know him to well by now. TK may not feel the same way about me but he cares about me, and he'd never do something like that to me.*

Kari knew this was all true now. It took a bit of a wakeup call to get through to her, but it finally did. 

"Tai's right. I have to tell him somehow. I can't keep this bottled up forever... Oh TK. What did you go and do to me?" 

********

Kari and Tai left later that afternoon to set out to do what they had agreed upon, but having no idea where to even start. They both left wondering if they were doing this more for themselves, or because they felt they had to because the other said they did. Then again, what would the benefits, or the consequences be later on?

Meanwhile, not that far from their apartment, TK was already making his way towards the Kayami's household. He had barely spoken three words to Kari for almost a week, and it seemed to him like she was intentionally avoiding him. He decided he really needed to talk to her face to face to make sure nothing was wrong. If he had done something to upset her, he wanted to make it right. He guessed she could've been upset because she felt he was ignoring her since he had spent so much time with Casey over the past couple weeks. As far as TK was concerned, it was more like Casey had taken him hostage. With his mind elsewhere, he barely heard the calls of the young girl approaching from behind him. He recognized the voice and cringed. A young girl about his age bounced up next to him. She had short black hair, hiding the white and red headband she wore around her forehead, and an attractive set of green eyes. She was short compared to TK, around Kari's size, and had a cute face. She was rather normal looking, nothing all that flashy, but very attractive none the less. Her attire was appropriate for the mid-spring atmosphere, a plain green t-shirt and matching jean shorts, all highlighted by a solid red handkerchief dangling from her neck.

"Didn't you hear me?" Casey asked. "I called you six times, and you kept on walking."

"No I didn't," he laughed weakly. "I'm sorry I was thinking about something else..."

"Sure you didn't," Casey said sarcastically, but in an understanding tone. "Still playing hard to get huh? Just give me some time, and I'm sure you'll get attached to me. I think I've noticed you beginning to already."

"Maybe..." *That's just because you've done practically everything but superglue our hips together!* 

"You will... I have that kind of affect on people." 

Casey smiled, and slipped both of her arms around his. TK blushed and sweat dropped. He liked Casey okay, but not nearly in the same way she did. He really didn't want to be rude to the girl who seemed to legitimately like him, but he didn't want her draping herself all over him like this either. Still, TK was TK, and he wasn't about to be rude. He just sighed and hung his head, as Casey pulled him away from Kari again to who knows where. Soon they found themselves in the Neighborhood Square. A local vendor took notice of the two pre-teens. 

"Hey there young man! How about a drink for you and your attractive young girlfriend?"

"No thanks, were fine."

TK sweat dropped. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"I remember when I was that age... The perfect type of day for a date with that special someone in your life..."

"Yep!" she agreed, as she buried the side of her head in TK's arm.

"WE'RE NOT ON A DATE!"

"Come on TK," she pouted. "Humor me for a change. Give a girl a thrill. Besides the people know what they want to see..."

"Why me?..." He hung his head, as Casey continued to drag him down the street. *Now I know how Kari must feel with Davis hitting on her all the time... Except I think Kari actually likes Davis...*

Kari had left her apartment, and headed for TK's still debating on what she was going to say when she got there. She hadn't gotten very far, when she noticed what had become an all too familiar sight as of late. Her face and her heart cringed, invaded by a wave of hurt mixed with mind boggling jealously that made Davis look tame, as she saw TK and Casey snuggling up way to close for her liking.

"I can't believe it!" she snarled, as she clinched her fist. "That little skank is at it again!"

She somehow managed to take control over her emotions, and decided to keep on walking towards to what looked like to her as a young couple. It wasn't long before TK noticed her. His face lit up, and he temporarily forgot about Casey. He moved towards her, but then remembered the ball and chain around his arm anchoring him in place. TK thought he might be in luck that she came around. He really wanted to see her anyway, and maybe she could help him with the small problem he had hanging around his arm which might as well have been a noose around his neck. 

"Hey there! What are you up to?"

"Hello TK." She stopped, but didn't bother to look up at him. If she did she might've seen just how 

miserable TK looked. She couldn't hide a trace of the disgust on her face, nor did she want to. "Casey...."

"Yeah, hey Kelly," she said like Kari wasn't even there. 

"It's a good thing I ran into you out here. I was going over to your house to see you."

"Sure you were TK," she practically growled. "I can see you two have been enjoying yourselves. 

Were you really going to take time out of that to visit little old me?"

"I'm not completely sure what TK's talking about, but your right that we have been enjoying ourselves so 

why don't you run along, and let us be?"

"Far be it for me to keep you."

"But Kari, we had plans today remember?!" He nudged her with his elbow desperately trying to get her to play along with him. "Besides, I really need to talk to you."

"I'm sure it can wait. I'd hate to interrupt your little date! Maybe I'll see you later if you ever get a free moment Takeru!" she said disgustedly, and then stormed away.

"Kari..." Hearing Kari use his full name worried him. She only did that when she was mad at him or extremely happy with him, and she didn't exactly sound all that thrilled.

"Don't worry about Kelsey TK," she said, as she reinforced her grip around his arm. "I don't know what her problem is, but you don't need her. You've got me."

TK frowned. "Her name is Kari, Casey! She's my best friend, and I don't like the attitude you always show around her. Of course I'm going to worry when she's upset over something?!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Let's go for a walk in the park."  


"Maybe some other time Casey. Right now I really need to catch up with Kari..."

"You can worry about her later. Let's go!"

"WHAT PART OF NO DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" He had tried to stay calm about the situation, but Casey was making that impossible.

"I understand it just fine. I just don't want to hear it."

All TK could do was sweat drop and sigh, as Casey pulled him behind her.

******** 

"Come on Tai! You can do this buddy! This is going to be so easy! Just like scoring a goal in soccer."

Tai had spent the better part of ten minutes pacing around the outside of Ms. Takenouchi's flower shop putting the finishing touches on the little speech he'd written in his head over the past few hours. He clutched the white dishtowel he had brought along for support, and finally, worked up the nerve and quietly pushed the door open. It was closing time, and lucky for him Ms. Takenouchi hadn't gotten around to locking up the shop yet. He found Sora near the back of the shop working on some water lilies. She was bent over giving Tai a nice view of her rear-end, which somehow fit into the tight blue jeans she was wearing. Tai blushed, and out of respect turned his head away. (Yeah, like there's too many guys out there that strong) He coughed into his hand catching Sora's attention.

"Hi Tai!" She turned towards him wearing a bright smile on her face.

Tai's face flushed as her eyes made contact with his. She had a couple small smudge marks on her nose and cheek, but even despite that Tai still thought she was the most stunning creature he'd ever seen. All traces of what he was going to say erased from his mind, and all of the courage and self-confidence he had coming into the fray left with it. 

"Umm.. Hi," was all he could manage to spit out.

"What brings you here?" She turned her attention back to the flowers, relieving some of the tension Tai was feeling but not much.

"Nothing... I just dropped by to see what you were doing..."

"Working," she sighed. "I'm afraid I'm going to be busy most of the night."

"If you need any help maybe I can give you a hand?" he offered, suddenly seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It was an excuse to spend some time with her, and maybe he could work up the nerve to tell her like he'd originally set out to do.

Sora giggled. "What do you know about flowers Tai?" 

"Nothing, but I'm sure there's nothing you can't show me."

"I guess not, thank you. I can use all the help I can get! That makes two of you now."

"Two of us?"

Just then there was a knock at the door, followed by the sound of a bell ringing signaling someone entering the shop. A second later, Matt came into view much to Tai's surprise, causing him to drop his towel without realizing it.

"Hey Sora! I'm here to help with the flowers... Oh, hi Tai."

"Matt..."

"Yeah. Matt agreed to help me out a couple days ago." 

"I know it's sweet of me, but I just can't turn down a pretty face."

"Get off yourself Matt," she laughed, rolling her eyes.

Tai felt his heart swimming around with his kidneys, and he immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion. He didn't want to get in their way, so he elected it would be best if he left. He turned slightly pale, and started stumbling towards the exit. "I just remembered! I promised I'd take Kari to the mall tonight. I'll see you guys later. Have fun!"

"Okay Tai..." she said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Good-bye."

Matt looked at Tai as if were insane for suggesting what he was going to do would be fun! Matt found it Strange when saw Tai start running after he walked out of the door, and it was then he realized what he had just done. He looked over at Sora who was still staring at the door. "What was that all about?"

"Well, he did offer to help, but I guess he changed his mind."

"You seem kind of disappointed."

"Not really..." She blushed, fearing where Matt was headed.

"Why don't you just tell him Sora?"

"Not you to Matt!" she shouted from out of the blue. "I get enough coaching from Mimi and Mother! I don't care how cute everyone thinks we look together, we're just friends!"

"Whoa, Whoa! What brought that on?! I meant you should tell him he forgot this." He bent down, and picked up a small white dishtowel he noticed Tai had dropped on his way out. "I had no idea it was anything like that. Well I did, but I wasn't planning on bringing it up. I might've tried before if I knew how easy it would be to get it out of you."

Red exploded all over Sora's cheeks, from what the sneaky little rat had just done to her. She buried her head back in her work, and tried to pretend like nothing had just happened. She waited a few moments, but Matt never once removed his gaze from her. Eventually, the tension, and the smart-ass smirk on Matt's face got to her. 

"You don't know what you're talking about Matt! You can stop looking at me that way now!"

"Whatever you say Sora." *She's just as bad as TK is with Kari* he thought. "This is probably a good time for me to cut out. I heard De-nile was a pretty big river, and I don't swim all that well. I guess I'll be going now..."

"Not so fast Matt!" she said sharply. She grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him back towards her. "you're not getting out of this that easily!"

"I'm not..." he gulped, as he watched his last chance to worm his way out of this situation get stomped into the dirt.

"Not a chance Mister! You owe me for covering for you when you and your band snuck out to play that party last week, that your dad forbid you to go to! I happen to really need the help, so you're stuck buddy."

"This isn't going to mess up my hair is it?"

"Not if you're doing it right. Now move it! And no smart comments about Tai either, unless you want to find out how fertilizer looks in your hair!" 

"I'll behave! I'll behave!"

******** 

"I was so stupid! I should've known better!" Kari cursed herself, her face covered by her hands. She almost wanted to cry, but managed to hold it off.

"I'm going to take a wild guess, and say things didn't go to well," Gatomon said, needing no explanation on what Kari was ranting about. She was parked on the couch next to Kari.

"Are you kidding?! It was horrible! He was with that Casey again!... I guess I can't blame TK for liking her... She is prettier than me... And she's really sweet to everyone... Except for me of course!"

Gatomon sighed. "Look Kari... I don't know much about this Casey, but I don't think everything's what it seems to be to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... From what I've heard from Pattamon, TK isn't really all that crazy about her, but you know TK. He doesn't want to act mean towards anyone."

"Yeah...," she said, with a hint of hope cracking in her voice. "Now that you mention it, TK didn't seem all that thrilled to be with her this afternoon. I was so upset at the time I just didn't care..."

"Well, you need to think about that for a while Kari, and find out what you need to do. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere I need to be." She hopped off the couch, and walked towards the door.

"Where are you running off to now?!"

"I have something I need to do... I hate to leave you like this, but I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for you from here. I'll see you later."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Meanwhile, Tai had almost made it home from his aborted mission at the flower shop. The sun was setting behind him, and he disgustedly ranted to himself as he walked down the road right in front of his apartment building.

"That can't be what it looked like! I didn't even think they would be each other's type!" he said, as he walked through the main entrance to the complex. He quickly walked over the elevator, walked inside, and pressed all the right buttons he needed to, while talking to himself the entire time. Lucky for him he was alone. "If there is a chance it's all true maybe I should just be happy for them... As long as they're happy. I don't know. This was all a stupid idea in the first place!" The elevator stopped, and the door slid open. He walked inside onto his floor, when a wave of clarity slapped him in the face. "No... You know that's not it Tai. At least Sora would've mentioned something if there were, and you probably would've noticed something going on yourself. Face it. You chickened out, and you're just using that as an excuse." About then, he arrived at the door leading to his apartment. "You blew it, and it's as simple as that!... Crest of Courage my butt!"

Tai opened the door, and walked inside. Gatomon was practically right in front him, and she looked up at the boy.

"Like brother like sister huh?"

"Yeah." He didn't have to dwell on what she meant. He was rather dismayed to see her walk out the door behind him. "What are you doing?! You shouldn't be walking around outside, even at night!"

"Relax Tai. I'll be fine, as long as I act like a normal cat. It's not like it's the first time or anything."

"If you say so..." he sighed, as he closed the door behind her. 

It was then Tai noticed his younger sister sitting on the couch almost in tears. Kari looked up at her brother who looked equally dejected.

"No luck for you either huh?"

"Nope," he sighed, as he plopped down next to her. "I was dead in the water as soon as I hit, and then Matt showed up which made things worse. I really don't think anything was going on, but I used it as an excuse to bail out anyway. Even if there was I had plenty of time to tell her before Matt even showed up, but I bit. So... How's by you?"

Kari took a deep breath, buying her an extra few seconds to come up with an answer. "I never even had a chance. He was with Casey again!" Her face cringed at the mere thought of her. "I couldn't stand the sight of her hanging all over him like that! The two face little tramp!"

"Kari!" Tai's eyes just about bugged out of his head after she said that.

"I got so angry I just walked away," she continued. "To tell you the truth I think I made that into an excuse myself. I was really upset, but I don't think I would've been able to tell him anyway."

Tai nodded his head in agreement. "You know something Kari. It was really easy for us to tell each other we needed to reveal or feelings, but I think we both realized it wasn't that easy when it came down for the two of us to do it ourselves."

"Does that mean we can give up, and pretend we never had that talk this morning?" she asked hopefully, but sounding like she already knew the answer was going to be no.

"Of course not," came the expected reply. "We can do this. We have to find a better way of going about it."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Let's put our heads together, and see if we can figure this out." Kari was ready to reply when the ringing of the phone cut her off. Tai reached for the phone on the end table, and answered it. "Hello."

"Hey Tai, that you. This is Matt."

"Matt?" Tai was surprised to hear Matt's voice on the other end. It hadn't been much more than an hour since he left the flower shop, and Matt rarely called him anymore as it was. "Yeah this is Tai, who else would this be? What's up? I thought you were helping Sora?"

"I am," Matt grunted, not trying at all to hide his disgust about being there. Of course that went right over Tai's head. "I'm stuck here for the time being. I owe her one, so I'm filling in my end of the bargain."

"Really?"

"You almost sound relived Tai. What's up with that?" he asked, trying hard not to giggle.

"Huh?, No it's just that I thought... Oh never mind." He frowned, not sure what Matt was getting at.

"I thought I'd called and make sure you didn't get the wrong impression, and that I didn't get in the way of anything important that might've been going on."

"What are you talking about?!" He asked, referring to both questions at once. 

Matt couldn't completely suppress his laughter. He was really getting a kick out of this. "Well I had a strange feeling you might've been in the middle of something when I so rudely walked in on you two this evening, and from the look on your face I was afraid you might've gotten the wrong idea on why I was there."

"What do you mean?" Tai asked nervously.

"Well, I'm no expert on the human anatomy, but I do know your heart isn't normally up in your throat."

Kari leaned in close listening in to every word of her brother's conversation. She had to giggle, as she watched Tai's face explode into a bright pink. She enjoyed the thought that even Matt could tell Tai had feelings for Sora, and he knew jack about girls and romance. "I'm not sure what your getting at, but I've really gotta go now. Me and Kari have a little project we need to get to work on. Bye-bye." He quickly hung up the phone before Matt could get another word in.

Matt stared down the phone, which now had nothing but dead air coming out of the receiver. He laughed lightly, as he hung up the phone. He really did enjoy this. Tai and Sora were both so obvious he couldn't believe neither one of them had picked up on it. He sighed, and shook his head. "They're both hopeless." He's head jerked up, and he laughed. "They're perfect for each other!"

********

Pattamon poked what passed for his head out of the bedroom door, and there was still no sign of TK. He wondered what was taking him so long, knowing he should've been back a long time ago, and he was beginning to worry. Pattamon had somewhere he needed to be himself, and would have to take off without seeing TK if he didn't get home soon. After careful deliberation, he decided he couldn't wait for him any longer, and prepared to leave. He flapped his way over to the kitchen window, but as luck would have it, TK just happened to walk through the door right as he was about to leave. TK closed the door behind him, and sighed as he slid down on his butt, propped up against the door.

"That's not a good sign." Pattamon said, as he flapped his way over to TK. He landed and sat down next to him. "Did you get a chance to talk to Kari?"

TK sweat dropped. "Yeah..., but not quite the way I wanted to. Casey ran me down before I got to her house. I don't know what else I can do to get that girl off my tail! I can't make it any more clear to her that I'm not interested, but she just won't quit! Maybe I can ask Izzie for some advice. He knows her a lot better than I do. Anyway, It was kind of hard to talk to Kari with Casey dangling from my arm. I tried to get Kari talk with me, but she just walked away. I can tell she's still really mad at me."

"I don't understand what you did to make Kari so mad at you in the first place," Pattamon said.

"I don't know either! I've done stupid things that have made her mad at me before, but never something so bad she's ever avoided or wouldn't even speak to me before!" TK ranted. 

"Then why don't you call her and apologize?" the pudgy Digimon suggested.

TK grunted, and shook his head. "That's no use. I'm afraid she'd just hang up on me. Besides, I'd rather do it face to face if I can ever get ten seconds alone with her, and I'd like to know what I did wrong in the first place!"

Pattamon spread out his wings, as if something suddenly clicked in his mind. "I don't know much about this kind of thing, but maybe she's just a little jealous TK. You have been spending a lot of time with that Casey girl lately. She may be upset because she thinks your neglecting her."

"I don't think so Pattamon." He laughed at the thought of Kari being jealous over him. He kind of enjoyed the thought, but he didn't think Kari was the type to get jealous. Even if she were, she wouldn't get jealous over him. He was just her best friend after all, and he had been forced against his will to neglect her a little bit of the past couple weeks. He decided Pattamon might be right on that point. He found himself replaying the thought of Kari being jealous over him in his head. He had always cared about Kari more than just a friend for as long as he could remember. From the first moment he saw her, he had looked at her in the kind of light he knew he would never look at anyone else. He chose to hold it inside of him, and Pattamon was the only other soul he had ever told that too. Not even Matt, and how he picked up on it along the way TK would never know. She was his best friend, a very special person in his life, and he wasn't about to ruin that for anything. Still, something strange had been happening as of late. Kari was growing into a very attractive young woman, and TK wasn't foolish to think he was the only guy to notice. All of a sudden, other people were beginning to look at Kari in the same light TK had always seen her in. Not the exact same light, he knew no one else but him would ever be able to, but their own version none the less. Davis helped to teach him that the hard way. He was starting to worry he may lose Kari for good, as if he ever thought there was a chance for that anyway. "I don't think she's jealous. Not over me anyway!"

Pattamon looked at TK kind of funny, and slightly frowned. "TK... Can you explain something to me?"

"I'll do the best I can," he answered.

"Well... I like you, and you like me right? And I like Kari, and you like Kari. But you like Kari in a different way then I like Kari, and that I like you. But you won't tell Kari because your afraid she doesn't like you the way you like her. On the other hand Davis likes Kari in the same way you like Kari, but Kari doesn't like Davis the way he likes her, and you like her. Yet, Davis isn't afraid to tell Kari he likes her the way you like Kari even though Kari keeps telling Davis she doesn't like him the way you and Davis like Kari that's different from the way I like you, and you like me and...."

  
"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down Pattamon!" TK pleaded. "You're making my head spin!"

"I'm sorry, but this is all so confusing!" Pattamon complained.

"Well when you put it like that I guess it is!" TK laughed, but soon realized the truth behind his little joke. "Now that I think about it... I guess this kind of thing is always confusing no matter how you put it."

"I'll say. I don't know how you humans deal with it!"

"It's one of those things we have to deal with all our lives once we get older, and we never really learn how to deal with. You probably feel lucky you don't have to deal with this kind of thing don't you Pattamon?"

"Yeah..." he said, trying to sound as disinterested in the question as he could.

"Well Pattamon?" he asked, expecting a better answer from his Digimon friend.

"Whatever you say TK." He pulled himself off of his duff, and took flight, hovering in the air face to face with TK. "Now if you don't mind TK... I'm going to take a late evening walk..., well flight and get some fresh air."

"Again? You've been doing that a lot lately."

"I know..." He paused, flapping his wings and looking at the door. "I get kind of cramped stuck in this house all day."

"You've got a point there," he admitted. "I'm sorry about that, but with the way Casey's been acting lately it would be kind of hard to hide you from her. I'll make sure I take you out a little more than I have been lately. You be careful, and make sure not to let anyone see you."

"I never do. Good-bye TK. I'll be back soon." Pattamon flapped towards the kitchen, and exited through the open window. 

"I have a sinking feeling that Digimon is up to something." TK sighed, and accidentally banged the back of his head against the door. His thoughts soon shifted away from Pattamon to his own problems. "What am I going to do about you Kari? What am I going to do?"

********

"This is stupid Tai!" Kari whined, as she slammed her pen down on the desk next to the paper she had been scribbling on. She had only written four lines, and they were all crossed out aggressively. "I can't do this! I 

don't even know how to write poetry! This is useless!"

"It isn't stupid or useless Kari," he continued to plead his case with her, like he'd been trying to for the past half-hour. "and I never said that it had to be a poem. I'm certainly not going to try it!"

"I still don't think this is going to work." In reality, Kari didn't think Tai's idea was all that bad. If fact, she thought it was rather romantic, especially coming from her brother. It was just that she found herself stuck in this particular mindset where she was ready to shoot down anything that involved TK, and well... You know.

"Nothing else has worked, so it's worth a shot!" he told her, still trying his best to sell her on the idea. He really wanted his sister in on this with him because he wasn't sure if he could pull it off on his own. "It's much better for us anyway. This way we can gradually tell them our feelings without having to worry about being face to face with them, chickening out, fainting, or God knows what else!"

"But what happens when they find out it's us writing these things, and they end up disappointed, angry, or even worse!" Kari challenged. 

"I've thought about that to, and there all possibilities we need to be ready for. We have to get this out somehow Kari. Besides..., Even if they don't share the same type of feelings for us, maybe this will help them..., you know. Push them in that direction. Anyway we have to try something. Telling them straight out has proved way to hard for both of us, and this is the best idea I can think up to handle it."

Kari felt her body ease up, as she felt herself beginning to give in. "Maybe Tai... But I have no clue what to write!"

"That's simple Kari!" Tai beamed with a bright smile. "Just write down what you feel. Think of how TK makes you feel when you think about him, the things you like best about him, and most of all how you feel when your around him. You two have been best friends for the longest, and I know you have to know a lot about him. Write everything down, and split it up. Make sure you don't say too much in one letter, and save some for the others. Also be careful not to give away who you are right away, but give a few subtle hints to keep him guessing. If it winds up working out the way we hope it does it could be fun."

"I'm still not sure how..."

Tai sighed, and reached down into his pocket. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper he had stuck in there earlier that evening. He really didn't want anyone but Sora to see it, but if it would encourage his sister he figured then why the heck not? "Here's one I finished earlier. It's not quite perfect yet, but I think it'll give you the general idea."

Kari took the letter from him reluctantly and read his words not exactly sure what to expect. By the time she was done her mouth was practically laying on the floor. "Tai!... I can't believe you wrote this! I had no idea you could be this romantic or this creative!" She emphasized creative a little too much for Tai's liking.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Tai said quickly, as he snatched his work form her hand. "Just don't tell anyone okay? This isn't something I want leaking out. At least not at this point and time anyway.

"I really like your signature," she giggled.

"Well, I wanted to be more original than signing it your secret admirer, or anything like that."

Kari giggled, filled with a new growing confidence. She figured if her brother could manage something like that, then she shouldn't have any problem at all. She would definitely be looking at Tai in a different light from there on. "Okay you win Tai. I'll give it a shot. Still, you don't think this is just a little too mushy or sappy?"

"Yeah it is, but that's the way it's supposed to be!" It came out like a joke, but Tai was serious. "Besides, Sora likes that kind of thing. Of course, I'm not sure about TK..."

"Actually, it kind of sounds like something TK would do for someone else." Kari smiled brightly as thoughts of her friend's gentle and sweet spirit filled her mind. She decided to take her brother's advice and write down everything she felt and loved about him. She didn't find it very difficult any longer, but she realized something very quickly. This was going to take her a while.

********

Sora quickly wiped some of the sweat off her brow, and continued to snip at the new arrangement of daisy's her mother had just set up. However, her mind was far from her work that morning. Most of her thoughts were focused on Tai, a subject that hadn't been too uncommon for her as of late. She wasn't sure how it happened, and she had no idea when it started. All she could remember was that some time ago she starting looking at her best friend, and noticed... he was really cute. All at once a whole wave of complex emotions flooded in, leaving Sora looking for dry land. She knew what those feelings were. She wasn't naive, and she was the bearer of the crest of love after all. She just never pictured herself falling for a guy like him. Not that she thought she was in love with him. That she wasn't sure of yet. It was like struggling on a balance beam with love on one side, and friendship on the other. Either side she fell on, she'd be risking one of those, or maybe even both. She had to admit, though, that the feelings were there, and she wasn't doing as good of a job of hiding it as she thought she was. Even Matt was catching on, as she found out the night before. 

Sora lifted one of her flowers up to her nose, and lost herself in its fragrance. "Maybe Matt's right, and I should just come out and tell him. What could happen? He could laugh at me, rip out my heart, stomp it into the ground, and I could lose my best friend all in one big swoop. Other than that I can't see what could possibly go wrong." She set the flower aside, and placed her hand to her chest remembering the tag she use to wear around her neck. "Crest of Love my butt."

Sora examined her handy work, and decided it was satisfactory. She set her sheers aside, and headed towards the carnations at the front of her store. She had to pass the counter to get to them, and as she did an envelope with her name on it caught her eye. At first she assumed her mother must've left it for her, but if it was from her mother Sora wondered why she'd seal it in an envelope. Curiosity got the best of her, and she picked up the letter and opened it. 

"Hey there flower girl. I walk into your flower shop almost every day, and the beauty I see in there amazes me. The way everything's so perfectly arranged. Sometimes, the moment I walk inside and my eyes land on pure perfection, it takes my breath away. I've caught myself peeking through the window more than once, and their are times when the sun shines in just right, I have to stop and stare because I know I never have and never will see a more beautiful sight in the world." She smiled at what she had read so far. "That's real sweet, but I don't know why this person would address this to me. My Mom is mostly responsible for keeping this place up." She shifted her eyes back down to the letter, and read the final line. "Oh yeah, and your flowers aren't that bad either..." Sora gasped, as the true nature of the letter seeped into her head. She covered her mouth with her hand as her face turned bright red. It took her several seconds to compose her self before she remembered to look down and read the signature. "Signed... Wouldn't you like to know?"

Sora wasn't sure what to think at first. She started giggling lightly as she walk towards the back of the shop, and her giggling eventually grew uncontrollable. She plopped down against the wall at the back of the shop, and re-read her little love note a couple more times. "I can't believe this! Someone actually wrote this for me?!... I wouldn't call myself perfectly arranged, but I'm not going to argue with him!"

Sora couldn't remember the last time she had gotten this excited by something so quickly, but then again nothing like this had ever really happened to her before. She just had to tell someone, so she quickly picked up her phone and dialed Mimi's number. Sora was glad she was back in town from America with her family visiting friends and relatives. As she had expected, Mimi was ecstatic for her, but she was a little over zealous in wanting to know the details for Sora's liking. There weren't any details anyway. Sora had found a letter addressed to her, and it was as simple as that. If she didn't know any better, she could've sworn Mimi was more excited over it than she was.

"I wonder if she's found it yet?" Tai asked himself. He had been watching through the front window for at least half an hour now, curious how she would take it, and too nervous to move. For the most part it turned out to be a waste of time since he couldn't see much from the distance and angle he was standing at, but the few short glimpses he caught of her moving around inside made it worth while for him. He couldn't believe he managed to sneak in, place his letter on the counter, and sneak out with Sora none the wiser. She was so wrapped up in her work, Tai guessed that she didn't even notice a thing. Right now he'd give just about anything to know if she had noticed the letter yet, and what exactly her reaction was. He sighed in frustration, and decided it was time to go. "Oh well. I guess I just have to wait. I'll find out soon enough I guess... If the suspense doesn't kill me first."

********

TK zigzagged his way in-between the trees in the park, doing something he found himself doing a lot lately. Trying to avoid Casey at all cost, but he never seemed to be very good at it. He was doing pretty well so far that morning, but he still remained cautious since she always seemed to catch up with him sooner of later. He poked his head out from the tree he was hiding behind, and much to his relief there was still no sign of her. Deciding the coast was clear, he wandered back out into the open only to hear an equally annoying voice calling his name... Well sort of.

"Hey TA! Over here!" a young boy's voice called, causing TK to cringe. If he had actually gotten his name right TK may have wondered who it was, but the butchering of his name left no doubt in his mind who was calling him. Davis waived him over to the bench he was sitting at, and motioned for him to take the seat next to him. Davis wasn't exactly the first face TK wanted to see that morning, but he was better than Casey. 

"What's up Davis," he asked, as he sat down. To his surprise, Davis didn't seem upset to see him at all, and he was actually smiling.

"What are you up to? I'm kind of surprised to see you're not with Casey this morning." TK was taken back by the suddenness of the question. Davis never was one to waste time getting to the point.

"Why would that surprise you?" TK asked nervously, and sweat dropped. 

"Well I've noticed you two have been spending a lot of time together lately. It kind of makes me wonder if anything else is going on?" He tried to sound smug as he asked the question, but he wound up sounding more hopeful than anything.

"Nothing is going on Davis!" TK's stomach nearly turned at the mere thought of it. "Trust me, were just friends, and that's all."

"That's not what I've heard from her?" he mocked.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," he groaned, growing slightly annoyed. He decided right there he would have to have a little talk with Casey about exaggerating the extent of their relationship. "It's not quite what she wants it to be, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong, I like Casey, but it's not and probably never will be what she wants it to be."

"Sure, whatever you say." Davis tried his best to sound like he didn't believe him.

"Look, I've got to get going Davis. I'll see you later." He didn't like where this conversation was headed, and wanted to get out fast.

Davis smirked and pumped his fists, as TK walked out of sight. "YES! This is almost perfect! If TK and Casey do start going out together than that increases my chances with Kari big time! I'm just gona have to make sure that happens. All I have to do is figure out a way how..."

********

TK walked into his apartment softly mumbling to himself. He had put up with Casey to that point, but from what he heard from Davis she was pushing this way to far as far as he was concerned. He really wanted to find out what she had been telling people, and decided he needed to tell her straight. "Maybe I should talk to Izzie. He knows her a lot better, and for a lot longer than I have."

"Talk to Izzie about what?" Pattamon asked, as he appeared in front of TK flapping his little wings.

"Oh, It's nothing Pattamon. Moms still at work I take it." TK knew Pattamon wouldn't be flying around the house if she were home.

"Nope. Oh by the way, I've got something for you!" TK flew over to the kitchen counter, and picked up an envelope in-between both of his little arms. He glided back over to TK, and dropped the contents of his hands while sporting a suspicious looking smile. "I found this earlier today. I think it's for you."

"For me?" He looked down at the object in his hand, and read his name on the front, which was all that was printed on it. "Interesting. Do you know who this is from?"

"I guess you'll have to read it to find out. Well, I guess I'll leave you to it," he said, as he flew away.

"Pattamon wait! Where are you going?!..." He hung his head in defeat, and sighed. "Never mind."

TK sat down on the living room couch, and opened the envelope. The only thing inside was a single sheet of paper, which he unfolded and read aloud to himself. "Hi there. I'm not sure how to say this, but I think there's something you should know. I'm too shy to tell you this to your face, so I chose to do it like this. Let's just say I'm someone you know, and leave it at that. I hope you know what a treasure you are to some people..." TK paused a moment and blushed before reading on. "You've touched people's hearts in ways you couldn't even begin to imagine. I know you have mine. There's a light that shines in your eyes that's called out to me from the first day I ever saw you that still makes my heart melt, and gives me hope when I feel I'm at my worst. I thought I should let you know. Maybe I'll even be able to show you one of these days... Signed, Someone who loves you?"

TK sat silent for a good thirty seconds or so, at a lose on what to think. To say he was flattered would've been an understatement. Maybe even a little touched, but not knowing who sent it took a bit away from it. "Pattamon! Are you sure you don't know he sent me this?" He waited, but got no response. He supposed his Digimon had taken off on him once again. "I guess I've got to figure this one out on my own."

********

"I wonder if he liked it," Kari asked herself. She had done the deed almost two hours before, and that had been all that was on her mind since. She was wondering how he would take, if he liked it or if he hated it or but most of all how he would react when he found out it was her that wrote it for him. Tai was there waiting for her when she got home, and he had pretty much been thinking the exact same things over in his head. 

"Hey Tai. Did you actually go through with it?" Kari asked her brother.

"Sure did," Tai stated proudly. "I'm not sure what she thought about it, or if she even got it yet. I stayed there for a while and watched, but I didn't find out anything. How about you?"

"Yeah..., But I'm sure TK has his by now."  


"And what makes you say that? Did you see him get it?"

"No. I had some help on the inside," she said, referring to Pattamon. She was surprised at how willing he was to help her out, and even how rather insistent he was about it. She wondered why.

"Well now that that's out the way, I guess it's on to part two then." Tai noticed the tension fill his sister's face.

"Already!?" she cried in horror. "I spent all night writing the last one! Do we really have to do this so quickly?!"

"Hey, the longer we wait the better the chances of us chickening out later," he said in all seriousness. "Besides, I think waiting to long has been one of our biggest problems so far, and I didn't say you had to do it all in one night. Take a couple of days, and sneak it to him during school."

"Your right," she admitted. "I'll have to admit this is kind of fun. Where in the world did you get an idea like this anyway."

"You'd be surprised what this mind can come up with," he said, flashing his infamous cocky grin. "There's always been a sensitive romantic deep inside me. I just needed the right motivation to let it all out."

Kari seemed unconvinced. "Tai, where did you really get the idea from?"

Tai sweat dropped. "I don't know... I may have seen it a movie somewhere I guess..."

"That's what I thought," Kari giggled. "You haven't finished yours yet have you? If you did would you mind if I see them?"

"Not at all," he answered, as reached into his back pocket. "Actually I have my next two finished."

"Two?! How do you get yours done so fast?! I spent half the night stringing together those few measly sentences, and I still wasn't completely happy with it!"

"I haven't had trouble with them at all." Tai smiled dreamily, obviously thinking of something enjoyable. "To tell the truth, I've really been excited about writing these little love notes. All I'm doing is writing down what I've been wanting to say to her all this time. I've always felt it, it's just been a matter of saying it out loud."

"I think I know what you mean. I feel the same way whenever I write something concerning TK in my diary..." Kari's face light up, as the answer to her dilemma dawned on her. It was so obvious, she wanted to slap herself for not thinking of it earlier. Without saying another word to Tai, she bolted up off the couch and ran to her room. Tai stared after her, wondering what in the world could've lit that fire under her butt so suddenly.

Kari sat at her desk, and quickly pulled out the little diary that chronicled all the important events of seven of the thirteen years of her young life. She suddenly remembered writing tons of different excerpts regarding her feelings for TK. Everything she ever wanted to tell him was in there somewhere. As she looked through it, she discovered that wasn't going to be easy. She realized that most of the entries she had logged since the DigiWorld involved TK in some way or another. Not all of them were romantic, but it would be easy for anyone else who ever might read it to see what had been on her mind most of the time. She smiled and laughed, as she relived old memories that if it wasn't for that little diary she would've long forgotten. Via some of her oldest entries, it seemed that even when she was only eight she knew she had feelings for her little Takeru that went beyond the bonds of a strong friendship. Of course she was too young to know what they were at the time, but it was obvious now that a much older and wiser Kari looked back on them. There would be many that would say she was still to young to know what love really was, but there is one case out of maybe every million where it is truly real. There where two entries in particular that were her favorites. One of them were numerous entries of them playing their favorite childhood game, hide-and-seek. Kari had to laugh, remembering how bad TK was at it. If never took her long to find him, and he seemed to pick the worst hiding spots. He'd always run, and Kari would always have to wrestle him to the ground, and hold him there before he'd stop. Poor TK was an undersized child. He was a couple months older than Kari, but she was bigger than him until they turned around ten. It was amazing to think how he shot up like a weed in a little more than a year and a half. Talk about growth spurts! TK never seemed to mind when she overpowered him though, in fact, he seemed to even enjoy it at times. The entry she held most dear to her heart was one when they were about nine. It was during the time TK's mother had moved them away, and he came back into town for a visit. She remembered it so clearly... They were watching a young teenaged couple in the park. The young man had given his girlfriend a beautiful bouquet of roses...

"That's so romantic... I hope somebody cares about me enough to give me flowers like that someday."

"I sure someone will Kari," little TK said to his friend. "Once you get older maybe."

"I don't know if anybody would ever like me that much..."

"Of course they will... What makes you say that Kari?"

What happened a few minutes later still etched firmly in the back of her mind, and forever in her heart. TK came back with a hand full of dandy lions he had picked from the ground, and gave them to her. It was a simple childish gesture to his best friend, but Kari thought it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. She traced back then as the moment she fell in love with him. The thought he cared about her enough to show a simple gesture like that, as strange as it might've been. He was always doing things like that. It made her wonder if he possibly could feel for her the way she so wanted him too. She flipped through the pages, and hunted down some of her more elaborate and detailed entries. Her cheeks reddened at times, not quite believing a lot of those words actually came from her hand. She could hardly remember writing most of them, but there they were, thoughts and feelings she had felt at the time, transferred into written word. She felt as if she was falling in love with him all over again. She had spent over an hour getting reacquainted with all those old memories before she looked at the clock and saw it was already nine-thirty. Kari was swimming in the middle of a lake of inspiration and motivation, and she wanted to take full advantage of it before the drive faded away. She tore a blank sheet of paper from her dairy, and quickly picked up her pen. All of sudden, her task at hand didn't seem all that difficult anymore.

********

"ACHOO!" Joe re-adjusted his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The pollen count must be really high today. It's really doing a number on my sinuses..." Joe knew this was going to be a bad idea from the start, but his parents were insistent that he not stay cooped up in the house all afternoon on such a beautiful day. He was ready to turn back around and head for home, when a very familiar head of wild hair caught the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and sure enough he saw Tai leaning up against a chained fence with the fingers of one hand poking through the holes, watching one of the several tennis matches going on inside. Joe didn't even have to look inside to know who he was watching. It was so painfully obvious to him in fact, he struggled to stop himself from busting out laughing. He hadn't seen Tai in a while, so he decided to approach his younger friend, but of course Tai was to preoccupied to notice Joe sneaking up behind him.

"Long time no see Tai," Joe said, as he placed on hand on his shoulder. "Enjoying the match?"

Startled, Tai jumped back away from the fence, and stumbled around to face his taller friend. All Tai could do was blush. "Hey Joe... What are you up to? Enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer?"

"Well that was the plan, but Mother Nature and I don't get along that well," he said, as he adjusted his glasses. 

"Come on Joe," Tai muttered, still a bit nervous. "What do you have against nature anyway?"

"I have nothing against nature in particular, but I don't think it likes me all that much. I am allergic to half of what she puts out here you know."

Tai started to giggle, but stopped not sure if that was a joke or not. You just never knew with Joe. He started to say something, but stopped when he noticed Sora's match had just ended. His attention quickly turned back to her.

"Well I'd love to talk, but I can see you have other things on your mind right now." He waved at Tai, and walked off in the same direction from which he came. "Later!"

"Bye," he replied, slightly puzzled. "I wonder what he meant by that?"

"Goodbye! That was a great game! I'll see you next time," Sora called after her sparing partner for the day, who was already on her way out.

"Bye Sora! I'll get you next time!"

Sora smiled, and went to retrieve her things, which she had left against the gate behind her. She bent down to pick it up, and to her surprise found another envelope bearing her name resting on the top of her sports bag. She picked it up and immediately searched the area for any sign of who might've left it, but didn't see anyone that she even remotely recognized. She hadn't noticed Tai there earlier, who had slipped away the second she received the note. That was all he waited to see.

"This is too weird," she said to herself. "How did this person put this here without me even noticing?!" Sora picked up her things, and took a seat on the steel benches outside the cages. She dropped her bag at her feet, and hastily opened the envelope. Like she did the first time, she read the letter aloud to herself.

"I'll admit tennis isn't exactly my game, but I've found myself gaining more interest in it lately. Okay, okay I'll admit it. I've really been watching you. I hope this doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, but I just can't help myself... Others watch you too, but all they see is a fine young tennis player doing her thing out on the court. However, I see a beautiful and passionate young woman putting her heart and soul into something she loves. That's beautiful in itself, despite the lovely shell I admire so much on the outside. Most of all I see the person that holds my heart, and I hope to own yours one day too.... Signed, Wouldn't you like to know?"

Though she wasn't aware of it, her cheeks were glowing so bright they might've blinded someone foolish enough to look her square in the face. She reread it silently to herself several more times, not as much because she wanted to rather than not being able to take her eyes off of it. She made sure no one was watching, then folded up her gift, and slipped it into her bag. She set out for home trying her best to act like everything was normal, but in truth there was a whole lot on her mind. 

********

Davis waited in the park impatiently, expecting someone he had arranged to meet the day before. She was supposed to meet him at 2:00, and it was almost 2:45 already. Not that he had any right to complain. He had just arrived himself a few minutes earlier. It usually took a while with Davis, but common sense finally seeped through that thick skull of his. He began to wonder if he might've missed her, or if she even decided not to come all together. He knew Casey wasn't very fond of him, and he couldn't really blame after the first impression he laid on her. On her first day at their school he ran into her, and almost knocked her out cold while performing some childish stunt in a failed attempt to impress Kari. Not to mention that he somehow managed to spill his lunch on her on three separate occasions already in the short time he'd known her. He was ready to leave when he finally caught a glimpse of her walking along the trail near the bench he was sitting at.

"Hey Casey! I'm over here!" He waved his hand in the air, trying to catch her attention.

"Davis," she grunted. Half of her was really hoping she wouldn't find him. Apparently she hadn't arrived late enough to drive him off, but knowing Davis he probably hadn't been there that long himself.

Casey took a seat next to Davis, and smiled politely. Both of them were rather nervous, not sure how to act around the other. "So Davis... What's up? You Didn't have anyone else to throw your lunch at today?"

"Don't tell me your still griping about that?!" Davis asked, half seriously. "It's been almost an entire week since the last time I did that!"

"In other words your over due," she mocked. "What's on your mind, if that's at all possible."

  
Davis grunted, and sweat dropped. He was expecting this, but that didn't make it any easier. "Look, it's obvious you don't want to be here talking to me, so I'll get to the point. It hasn't been much of a secret that you've got a bit of a crush on GK."

"His name is TK you simp, and no I haven't tried to keep it a secret," she said disgusted at Davis's abuse of his name. "I've been trying to get his attention, but he seems more interested in his little friend Karee than me."

"Her name is Kari, and I'm not a simp!" Davis paused for a moment. "What ever that is... Oh never mind! What I'm trying to say is I know you've been trying to get DC's attention, and I want to help you do it!"

"Why would you want to help me?" she asked.

"Because TC's constantly costing me my chances with my girl Kari! If he's dating you, then I wont have to worry about him getting in my way all the time!"

"Yeah, Karen's your girl huh? She really seems to be fond of you!" 

"Just like JT likes you huh?!" He shouted, now practically fuming. "Look, you like him, and I like Kari! If we can get them away from each other, and with us then we're both happy! Understand!"

"And what do you propose we do?" she asked calmly, like she was suddenly getting interested. 

Davis sweat dropped. "Uh... I haven't thought that far ahead yet." 

Now Casey was the one hanging her head. "THEN WHY DID YOU DRAG ME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE?!"

"Well, I was hoping you could help me out with that," he said slyly, trying to sound cool. "You are Izzie's cousin after all. I'm kind of hoping brains run in the family."

"Izzie was adopted dingbat!"

"Oh yeah..."

"Hump!" Casey tossed her head back, and a cocky smile crossed her lips. "Now that you mention it, I've always been more than a match for my cousin."

"Than maybe we can work something out?" Davis asked hopefully.

"You know I think we can..." Casey went silent for several seconds, apparently thinking things through. "I like the way your mind works Davis, the rare times it does anyway."

"Do you have something in mind?" he asked, ignoring the insult. Actually, he failed to notice it at first, but still shrugged it off.

"Not at the moment... Right now let's just keep on pushing the envelope like we've been doing. Nether one of us has been shy about making our intentions clear, let's just step it up a bit. Make sure they're apart as much as possible. I know TK will fall for me eventually... I just need some time alone with him."

"I know what you mean," Davis agreed, as he drifted off into his own fantasy world. "I know Kari's in love with me too... She's just doesn't know it yet. I'll sweep her off her feet like TD couldn't even dream of doing, and then she won't be able to resist me! How can she not anyway. I mean a cool attractive guy like myself I mean."

Casey rolled her eyes, and tried desperately not to bust out laughing. "You do that. In the mean time let's just stick to our guns, and I'll try to come up with something to make this all work. I'll get back to you then. Good luck."

"I'll be waiting, and good luck yourself." 

Casey was actually rather excited over her little conversation with Davis. She didn't think was possible to actually have a productive conversation with that boy. Normally, she wasn't as rude with people like she was with him back there, but something about that boy just brought out the worst in her. Having chocolate milk and spaghetti noodles dripping down your hair, down your body, and into your most private areas tend to strain your opinions on someone like that. Of course there was that Kathy girl, but there was just something about her Casey couldn't stand. She knew that Davis could be a decent guy when he wanted to be, but most of the time he was loud, obnoxious, self-centered, egotistical, and simply down right annoying. He reminded her a lot of someone else she knew, but she just couldn't put her finger on who. She took one last look back at him just for the heck of it. She noticed him blush, and turn his head away form her. Casey giggled, and continued on her way. "You know he would almost be cute if he wasn't such a little terd."

"You know she'd almost be cute if she wasn't such a pushy little brat," Davis said to himself, watching her as she walked away. He noticed her turn around and look at him, causing him to snap his head back around in response. Once he was sure she was out of sight, he sighed and sunk back against the bench. He didn't have anything personal against Casey, in fact he didn't even dislike her, but there was something about her that really annoyed him. He knew she could be a sweetheart at times, but most of the time she was loud, obnoxious, self-centered, egotistical, and simply down right annoying. She reminded him a lot of someone else he knew, but he just couldn't put his finger on who..."

********

Sora wasn't far from her mother's shop, but she couldn't help but look over her letter again. Half of her was excited and giddy about the mystery of it all, but the other half was scared to death. Mostly afraid, that who she hoped penned those lines would be waiting at the end of all this. Of course she would be flattered by anybody who had taken the time and heart to put into this, but she would still be disappointed if it wasn't him. The way the letter was written made it seem to her like this person knew her well, and how he knew where to leave them just were she was going to be, and doing it all right under her nose. Then again, she couldn't picture those words coming out of his mouth, or even his hand. She had known him to long.

"Hey Sora! What do you got there?"

Sora jumped at the sound of the voice, the voice of the same person she had just been thinking of. She looked up, and sure enough there was the face that matched the voice. She hid the letter behind her back, hoping to God he hadn't noticed it. "Oh Tai! This is nothing..."

"It has to be something," Tai giggled. "I just saw your reading it. You know you almost tripped over a fire hydrant back there."  


"I did..." she squeaked out through a huge lump that had formed in her throat. Her cheeks reddened furiously, as she looked up into his eyes. She had never felt more uncomfortable around him in all the years she'd known him. "I... I...

"What's the matter? What are you trying to hide?" He playfully attempted to look behind her back, but Sora matched his movements, making sure she was face to face with him the entire time. "Oh I get it! It's some kind of love letter isn't it? Isn't that cute! Sora has a boyfriend!"

Sora frowned, growing annoyed at his teasing of a rather sensitive subject for her. "It's not exactly that, but I did get this letter today." She pulled it out from behind her back, and showed it to Tai. "You wouldn't know anything about this would you?..."  


"Why would I? It's your letter!" he laughed.

"Oh..." Sora cringed, and hung her head. "I didn't think so... I've got to get home, so I'll see you later Tai."

Sora walked away quickly, and fought back a couple soft sobs. "Don't let it get you down Sora. You knew it couldn't have been him. He's just not the romantic type."

Tai felt his heart start to pound rapidly. Was it only his imagination, or did she seem upset when he told her he knew nothing about the letter. A second later he was kicking himself at the thought of doing something that had upset her, but a shortly after that he was excited again. She seemed completely lost in his letter. Did that mean it was getting to her? One thing he was sure of was that he had to be there when she got home. He just had to be. Maybe that would answer some of his questions. 

Tai chose to take a different route to Ms. Takenouchi's flower shop where he knew she'd be headed next. It took a little longer this way, but he didn't want Sora to see him following her and he could even possibly beat her there if he moved fast enough. He motored all the way there, luckily with little distraction, and just barely beat her there. He hid himself behind a large tree across the street from the shop, beet red and panting wildly from the long run. He shot a quick glance at the front door of the shop, and saw his letter still taped to the glass door. Thankfully, no one had messed with it like he had been worried someone might. Tai wasn't crazy about the idea of leaving two of his notes in practically the same spot, but he didn't have many better options. He considered leaving it at her apartment, but if he did that he wouldn't be able to see her reaction to it. She'd have to stay outside for him to see her this time, but at least he had a chance this way. 

Sora staggered to the door, still lost in a dreamy state. Of course, the first thing she noticed was the envelope tapped to the door. She quickly ripped it off, and searched around for signs of anyone that looked the slightest bit familiar. "Another one! So quickly... Who's doing this?!"

Tai felt a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn't quite tell, but he was afraid he saw her seem slightly irritated. The pain faded as she opened the letter. She leaned up against the door, staying outside while she read the letter, just like Tai had hoped.

Sora peered inside, and this time was surprised to find a small circular mirror along with the letter. "Before you read any further I want you to take a look in the mirror." Sora did as she was instructed, and of course all she saw was her own reflection staring back at her. The same face she had been forced to stare into for the last fifteen years of her life. "That beautiful face staring back at you is all that most people see when they look at you, but I see so much more than that. I can see the loving and caring soul you hold deep inside, that always seems to have a kind word for everyone. Dedicated and loyal to the very end, and the best friend anybody could ever have..." Sora's eyes lit up, of course knowing who her best friend was. "Your the one person this world who the mere thought of can scare me half out of my wits at times, and turn right around and give me the courage I need to face just about anything... I've heard through the grapevine you've been wondering who I am. Well, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough. Signed, Wouldn't you like to know?" 

Sora's face was glowing so brightly, Tai could see her blushing from all the way across the street . He looked closer, hoping and praying his eyes weren't deceiving him. They weren't. She was actually smiling! The same smile that could wipe all logical thought from his mind, dull all his senses, and jump-start his heart all at the same time. On more than one occasion, he had literally stood still and just stared at her for a good thirty to forty seconds, and she never once seemed to notice. Of course, all his friends did, and they all made sure he knew about it. She appeared to giggle slightly, as she backed through the door and into the shop. Tai felt his heart seemingly skip a beat, and then pick right back up beating a mile a minute. He slumped back against his tree, and tried to sort through the numerous thoughts racing through his mind. 

  
"I can't believe it! I think this might actually be working! Calm down Tai... It's not going to do you any good to go through with this if you have a heart attack before you can see this to the end. She did seem to like what she read, but how will she react when she finds out I wrote it. Heck, for all I know she may already know. For all you know Tai, by this time Friday night you could be sitting next to Sora at our special spot enjoying our first kiss... Just like you've been dreaming of..."

With a clap of his hands, Tai hopped to his feet. He walked towards home, more like skipped, spinning around while ranting words of encouragement to himself. "Don't worry Tai. Everything's going to turn out fine. I can do this. I can do this!... I think."

********

Kari slipped into class early that morning. She was counting on the room being empty, and she sighed in relief seeing it was. Not even the teacher was present at the moment. She walked over to TK's desk, looking behind her the entire time to make sure no one walked in behind her. She didn't want anyone to see what she was doing. She set the envelope down on TK's desk, and quickly headed for the door. Just when she thought the coast was clear, she ran smack into the last person she wanted to see that morning.

"Hey watch it!" Casey whined, giving Kari the dirtiest of looks.

"Oh I'm sorry Casey," Kari said, not completely able to hide the disgust in her voice. "What are you doing here so early in the morning anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she snapped, turning her head away from Kari. "If you must know, I always come in early to get some work done in the computer room. Now what about you?"

Kari suddenly grew very nervous, dreading Casey may have caught her in the act. "Oh nothing Casey... I've really got to get going. I'll see you later!"

"You didn't answer me! What are you up to Laurie?!"

"I don't know, why don't you go ask her?!" she asked smartly, as she took off.

Casey grunted, and walked back into the classroom. She knew Kari was up to something, and she was determined to find out what. It wasn't long before she noticed something lying across TK's desk. She picked it up off the desk, and examined it. She respected his privacy too much to open it, but she was still curious. She'd find out what it was sooner or later.

Kari limped over to her locker, still recovering from her brush with Casey. She gathered up what she needed, and shut her locker only to find Davis's smiling face hiding behind it. "Davis?!"

"Hey Kari! You're here bright and early this morning."

"Yeah... What's up Davis?" Kari liked Davis all right, but she just didn't feel like dealing with him at that moment. It would figure that the first time Davis decided to be early for anything in his life would have to be today of all days.

"Well, to tell the truth I wanted to talk to you... Do you have a minute?" The reason Davis arrived early was to think up what he was going say to Kari that morning. He saw her sorting through her locker, and figured this would be as good of time as any. Best of all, there was no TK for at least another twenty minutes.

"Not really Davis... I'm kind of preoccupied at the moment. Can it wait 'til later?"

Davis thought it over for a second, and decided that might be a good idea. He realized he wasn't as ready as he had thought he was. "Sure, not a problem. Lunch time maybe?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Sure Davis."

TK was looking forward to, and dreading walking into class that morning simultaneously. He would finally get a chance to talk to Kari, but then again... she wasn't exactly talking to him at that moment. At least she couldn't run away from him this time, after all they did sit right next to each other. It didn't help matters much that Casey sat right behind them, and Davis to Kari's right. He'd just have to deal with it. To his dismay or relief, he wasn't quite sure which, Kari wasn't in her seat like she usually was once he walked in. However, he did find an envelope staring up at him from his desk. With only five minutes to work with until class started, he quickly ripped it open and read its contents.

"Hi there handsome. It's me again. I guess you've never noticed, but sometimes in the middle of class I just can't resist staring at you. There were times I was afraid you caught me, but you'd just smile at me and set my heart off to the races. Just that was worth the risk alone. I'd find myself making any excuse I can think up just to get near you. Pretend to trip just so you'll catch me before I fall, call out your name with nothing in particular to talk about just to hear your voice, and I've lost count of how many times I so conveniently accidentally brushed my hand across yours. You really haven't noticed? Anyway, I'm still waiting. Waiting and hoping that one day I can shine a light to your heart that will bring you to me. So, are you still wondering who I am? If you haven't already guessed, check your backpack later this afternoon, and you might find another clue. Hey, for all you know I could be looking right at you as we speak."

"What are you reading?"

TK rocked back in his seat, and barely avoided the most embarrassing display of falling out. He looked to his right, and saw Kari, who had just taken her seat a few seconds earlier, looking right at him. "Kari! You scared me..."

"I'm sorry," she giggled. "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"What?..." He paused a moment before he remembered the letter he held in his hand. It wasn't the first time the mere sight of Kari caused him to forget what he was thinking, and it wouldn't be the last by a long shot. "Oh this thing! Someone left it on my desk this morning. You don't happen to know who it was do you?"

"I didn't see anybody." She smiled at her own cleverness. She closed her eyes while she'd set it down, so she wasn't really lying. 

"You didn't huh... So I see we're on speaking terms again. You're not mad at me anymore?"

Kari furrowed her eyebrows, and laughed at him. "TK I was never mad at you! I just haven't been to fond of the company you've been keeping lately..."

Casey, who Kari knew was ease dropping, cracked her pencil against her desk. Kari peeked at her through the corner of her eye, and smiled. Casey mumbled to herself, and went on like nothing happened.

*I wonder who's been sending these things to me?* TK asked himself. *Cold it be Stacy, Victoria, or maybe one of the other cheerleaders? No, none of them are shy about their feelings. Besides, those airheads couldn't come up with anything this deep. They can't see anything beyond the basketball player anyway. Could it have been... No, don't go there TK. But I can't think of anyone else that... Could it possibly?* TK very slowly turned his head towards Kari, who was busy sorting through her book bag. She felt his gaze fall upon her, and she looked up. They both turned away blushing. Kari tried to hide a smile, as she dug deeper into her bag. 

*I don't think I've ever seen him look at me that way before! Could he be picking up on it already?...*

*No don't go fooling yourself TK,* he ordered himself. *Still, if wasn't her who could it of been?...*

  
"What you looking at?" Casey asked, as she peered over his shoulder.

TK looked at her with a look of sheer dread. "Good God, please no!"

"Please no what?"  


TK blushed again, realizing he had said that out loud. "Oh just thinking out loud Casey... Hey, someone left this letter on my desk this morning? You wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you?"

Now it was Kari nearly falling out of her seat. *NO! NO! NO! He couldn't possibly think it was her! Don't even ask her that! That two faced little witch wouldn't think twice of taking credit for it even though she didn't do a damn thing!*

"I don't know," Casey started, looking to choose her next words carefully. "Maybe I do? What kind of letter is it?" She cursed herself afterwards at how stupid that sounded.

Kari was ready to leap up and rip Casey's head off. Somehow, she managed to hold still without even saying a word. She just eyed her with an evil glare, unnoticed by Casey who was too busy with TK. *This isn't possible! How could he possibly think it's her!*

"It's of a personal nature," he muttered.

"Personal nature? Like a love letter or something?" she asked quickly.

"You might say that," he laughed, the tension clear in his voice. He was growing more worried by the second it might actually be her. "I'm just wondering who gave it to me. If nether you or Kari did, then I have no clue who else might have."

Kari sighed in relief. It appeared that TK wasn't completely sure at the moment. However, she was appalled that TK would think for a second that it might've been Casey. Casey on the other hand, was fuming. She knew now that Kari had given him that thing, and now it appeared she was officially moving in on him. To that point she had sworn up and down they were only friends. 

Kari and TK both heard a rumble from behind them, and watched as Casey walked over to Davis's desk. Casey whispered something into his ear causing his face to bug out in shock, and then collapse into this desk. 

"That's weird. When did Casey and Davis get so chummy?" TK wondered. "I thought they couldn't stand each other."

"Don't argue TK. Maybe now they'll leave use alone." TK and Kari both started laughing, as the bell rung signaling the start of class. Everyone fled to their seats, and all the last second arrivals sprinted into the classroom. Casey and Davis glared evilly at the two giggling teens, and then at each other, the wheels of dissention already churning in their heads.

********

TK spent the first ten minutes of his lunch period watching his book bag like a Hawkmon. Ken, who was sitting at the lunch table across from him, had watched TK hold a staring contest with his bag without saying a word to that point. Finally, he decided this was just too weird and broke his silence.

"Uh... TK. I don't think you need to watch your backpack so closely. I doubt it's going to get up and walk away."

"Don't mind him. He's just lovesick," Kari joked, as she appeared behind TK. She set her lunch tray down on the table, and sat down next to him.

"Love sick? What do you mean?"

"Somebody's been writing him love letters," Kari replied, as she took a bite from her lunch. Spaghetti with meat sauce, their regular Thursday meal. Kari giggled slightly, remembering the image of this stuff dripping down from Casey's head after Davis had spilled it on her.

Ken looked surprised, but then smiled and looked at TK. "Love letters?! Is that true TK?... Do you have any idea who they're from?"

TK blushed, and lowered his head. "I have a bunch of ideas, but not many that make any sense. The ones that do kind of scare me..." Kari almost choked on what she was chewing. What did he mean by that? "Anyway, her last letter said I might find a clue in my bag later this afternoon. I was hoping if I keep watching it I can catch whoever's doing it."

"Remember, A watched pot never boils TK," he quoted that oh, so overused line.

"I guess I am overacting a bit," TK sighed. "I've never really had anything like this happen to me before. I'm not quite sure how to handle it. Who would want me anyway?!"

Kari looked at him like he was crazy, and fortunate for her TK didn't notice. "What are you talking about?! What about all those cheerleaders you have drooling all over you?"

"They don't count!" TK laughed. "If I wasn't on the basketball team they wouldn't have a thing to do with me!"

The rest of their lunch period went on this way, changing topics several times. Both TK and Kari felt relieved to be talking to each other again. All the tension and hard feelings from the past couple weeks were gone, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Ken, the observant type, noticed this to a point, and left them alone for the most part. Still, he just couldn't help but sense something else was going on. Finally it dawned on him. *Hmm... So that's it? Well, it's about time.*

********

"What's the big idea Casey! I was supposed to talk to Kari at lunch!" Davis complained. Casey had grabbed him by the arm after the lunch bell rang, and dragged him to an empty hallway.

"That's going to have to wait for now! You remember what I told you this morning?"

"I still don't believe that?!" Davis sneered, and turned up this nose. "Why would Kari write TC love letters?! She's my girl!"

"She's not your girl yet, and she never will be if you don't handle this the right way?! I know she's doing it, because I caught her putting it on his desk this morning!"

"She could've have been putting it there for some one else! What could we do anyway?!"

"Simple." Casey smiled, and looked around to make sure no one else was listening in. She leaned close to his face, and whispered into his ear. "From the way it sounds, TK doesn't know Kari's writing them yet. If I have it my way he never will."

"How are you going to do that?" Davis asked.

"I'm going to keep an eye on her for the next couple days," she started. "I have a feeling she's going to try something later today."

"You mean your going to stalk her?" Davis assumed.

"No, I'm not going to stalk her!" Casey yelled, as she smacked him in the back of the head. "Get your head out of the toilet!"

"But that is stalking!" Davis insisted. "I know! I do it to her all the ti... uh..."

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Casey sighed. "Shut up, and listen up. I'm going to wait until she tries to slip him another one, and then make sure TK thinks it's from me. That should work out perfectly for you to."

"How does that help me?" Davis asked, clearly skeptical.

"Think about Davis!" Casey reached up, and knocked on his head. "How can a head that large hold a walnut sized brain?! Once TK starts thinking I wrote him the letters, he'll start ignoring Kelsey and naturally she'll be upset. Do you know who'll be there for her so she'll have a shoulder to cry on?"

"I don't know..." He scratched his head trying to think. "Tai?... Yolie?"

"NO! YOU, YOU TWIT!"

"Me! But why would Kari come to me?"

"Because You'll make sure your there for her duh?!"

Davis's eyes lit up, finally understanding what Casey was getting at. "Oh yeah! I get it now! But isn't that kind of low. I mean taking credit for something you didn't even do?"

"Don't worry about it Davis. This way I'm happy, you're happy, and eventually TK and Kari will be happy. We may have to say and do some things that are unpleasant along the way, but it will all work out for the best. Don't you agree?"

"I guess..."

"Don't you agree Davis?" she asked forcefully. She stuck her face under Davis's chin, letting him know full well that any other answer other than the one she wanted would do.

"Sure Casey. Of course your right," he gave in. "Do what you have to do...."

"Good. Now you can sit tight, and let me handle the rest," she ordered. "All you have to do is wait for your opportunity, and don't do anything stupid until then!"

Casey went on like that for a while longer, but Davis lost track of what she was saying. Her warm breath was streaming across his upper neck and chin, tickling his skin, and filling his mind with a strange sensation he couldn't quite explain. Whatever it was, it had dulled all his senses and completely derailed any trace of practical comprehension. He just stood there blankly, listening to everything she said, but unable to make out any of it. 

"Wake up Davis!" Casey screamed, as she whacked him in the back of the head. Davis shook his head around violently, seemingly releasing himself from whatever had control over him. "What made you space out like that? Do you find me that boring?!"

"No it's not that... I was just thinking about Kari...," he lied. "And how great your plan is, and how wonderful it will be to finally get my arms around Kari."

"Now that's the way you should think." Casey stepped back, relieving the last of the tension Davis had felt, and a little bit of her own that she casually tried to hide. Or, so they thought anyway.

"You know Casey, You look kind of pretty when you..." Davis stopped in mid-sentence, having no idea in hell where that had just come from. He sweat dropped, and prepared for the worst but it never came. All Casey could do was blush, feeling a mixture of surprise, and some other strange feeling tugging at her insides.

"Pretty when I'm what?..."

"When... you don't have spaghetti dripping down your face!" he laughed, in typical Davis fashioned. That wasn't what he was originally going to say, but it's what came out none the less.

Casey's face was still red, but this time seething with anger, sporting one of those famous anime, I'm about to kill somebody, type of looks. "AND I SHOULD'VE SHOVED THAT TRAY DOWN YOU THROAT WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE YOU BRILLO-HEADED, GOGGLED EYED LITTLE!..."

Davis slowly, very slowly back away, with a look on his face like the rabbit must have when it realizes it's about to be swallowed by the snake. With a quick turn, he headed for the hills, in reality the lunchroom, with the hotheaded girl hot on his heels. 

********

"That was great!" Sora called, as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. She had just gotten out of gym class, and was in the middle of a conversation with her friend on the way to their lockers. "It's been a long time since I've gotten the chance to play soccer. I really missed it..."

"Yeah, it was a nice change of pace," her friend agreed. "You haven't lost a step though. Then again, you were always a natural. You could probably play in your sleep."

Sora blushed, and smiled but otherwise didn't comment on her friend's compliment. She opened up her locker, and her face lit up as an envelope spilled out of it onto the ground. "Huh?!"

"What's that?" her friend asked.

Sora quickly picked the letter up, and hid it behind her back. "Oh, nothing... Just something for another class." She slipped the letter into her bag, and shuffled off to her next class before anymore questions could be asked.

********

"I can't believe this! How did she do it?!" TK asked, as he stared down at the envelope in his hand. "I watched my bag all day, but she still managed to sneak it in there!"

"It only takes a second," Kari laughed. School had just let out, and she was walking along side of him. "What makes you assume it's a girl anyway?"

"Because it... Well I... At least I hope it is." TK didn't even think of that, and he didn't want to think about that. It was a possibility though. Maybe it was Davis playing some kind of sick joke on him, but he soon ruled that option out. Davis couldn't have possibly written something like this. He looked at Kari with a mock smile. "Thanks for the thought Kari."

"Your welcome," she giggled. "You're spending an awful lot of time pinning over this TK. If I didn't know any better I'd say your actually enjoying this!"

"Maybe I am," he replied smugly. "It's kind of flattering to know someone thinks of me this way, and it's kind of intriguing wondering who it is."

"Do you have any ideas to who it is yet?..." She turned her head to the side, not wanting TK to see her blushing. 

"I know who I'd like it to be." He didn't really want to say that, but it slipped loose. It was what he was thinking regardless. "But I guess that would only be dreaming."

"You never know TK. Sometimes dreams come true. Who did you have in mind?..."

"I'm not telling you."

Kari snapped her head back around. "What?! Why?!"

"It's a secret." He smiled, and childishly turned his head up in the air.

"What secret?!" Kari asked growing annoyed. "I'm your best friend, and you can't tell me?!"

"I don't think so..." He stopped walking, and looked at her still wearing the same playful smile. "You'd probably just laugh at me."

"I won't laugh at you! I swear it!"

"Why do you seem to want to know so badly?" TK laughed. "I guess I could tell you... Nah."

"Oh just tell me already Takeru!" she demanded, as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. This was much to the shock of TK who couldn't come up with one logical reason why she would get so upset over it. 

"Whoa! Settle down Kari!... Please let go... your choking me..." This was made evident since his face was starting to turn bright red.

Kari gasped, and quickly let go! "I'm so sorry TK! I didn't mean to! I guess I got carried away..."

"No problem Kari..." he said still trying to catch his breath.

After a couple more awkward looks, and a brief silence they both realized how silly they were both acting. They both broke out in laughter, which quickly caught the attention of a not so thrilled on looker.

"You two sure look chummy this afternoon," Davis blurted out, jealousy evident on his face. He looked at TK and his frown deepened. "I figured you'd be out with Casey somewhere."

Kari frowned, and TK sweat dropped. He just then had noticed he had somehow managed to avoid her all day. "I've been lucky to give her the slip so far. Now that I think about it, it might be a good idea for me blow this place before she hunts me down. I'll see you Kari... Davis."

"But... Bye TK," Kari said disappointedly. She never did get an answer to her question.

"See ya TZ," Davis said, with obvious disinterest. He then turned his attention to Kari and smiled. "Now that were alone, I've got something I'd like to talk to you about. We never did get a chance to talk this afternoon."

"Sure Davis, but make it quick... I've got places I need to be this afternoon."

"I'm here to make your dream come true Kari. I'm here to offer you the once in a lifetime opportunity to accompany me to dinner and a movie this Saturday night."

"Really! Oh it's what I always dreamed of! And to think you chose little old me!... " she said, as sarcastically as she possibly could. She clasped her hands together, and quickly shifted back to normal. "What do you mean once in a lifetime? You ask me out at least twice a week!"

"I knew you'd be overwhelmed with happiness, and hey it's the least I can do for my girl."

Kari looked up at him in wonder. He was either in denial, ignoring her, or he was even more dense than she originally thought. "I'm not your girl Davis, and I'm sorry but I don't think I can make it. I'll be busy plucking out all the hair on my legs with rusty tweezers this Saturday night."

Davis face dropped. "Oh... That's too bad. Maybe some other time then." Kari hung her head and groaned. "You mind if I walk you home."

"Sure Davis."

********

TK stammered into his apartment, and sulked down onto the couch. He stared down at the still unopened envelope in his hand, debating whether or not he really wanted to open it. "I wish I knew what was going on. Could it really possibly be Kari... No don't get your hopes up TK. You're just going to be disappointed. Then again, Kari talks like she doesn't know anything about it, but then she got upset when I wouldn't tell her who I hoped it was... I don't know if she's hinting at something or not... I'm so confused! Kari if it is you I wish you'd just tell me, instead of torturing me like this. I know it's not, but I can dream can't I? Uh... Crest of Hope my butt."

  
He shifted his thoughts to more pleasant things. Memories of him and Kari. He remembered when she first joined the digi-destined, and how thrilled he was that he finally had someone his own age in the group to talk to. Even if it was a girl. They had been the best of friends since then, and little did he know what that was going to turn into. He unlocked some old memories of them playing hide and seek in the digital world, and back in their own world. He loved playing that game... Well he loved being caught by Kari anyway. He would purposely hide in the most obvious places, and made weak if any attempt to actually get away from her. It seemed even at that age he knew there was something special about her. He was merely to young to know what that was at the time. He wondered when he did start to realize he was falling in love with her. He traced it back to a day when they were both nine or ten years old. He couldn't quite remember. It was during the time TK's mother had moved them away, and he came back into town for a visit. Kari had gotten all worked up over watching a young man give a bouquet of roses to his girlfriend, and in response TK had given her a handful of dandy lions he had picked from the park.

"I know there not as good as roses, but it's the best I can do on such short notice," the young TK said, as he handed her the batch of dandy lions he held in his hand.

"Oh TK! That's so sweet... They're beautiful!" She leaned up and kissed TK on the cheek, causing him to blush like crazy.

It was so amazing that she could get so excited over something as simple as that. That's the way she always was, and one of the things he loved about her most. That had to have been the moment where she stole his heart, and to this point she seemed to have designs on giving it back to him anytime soon.

TK turned his attention back to the letter, and his curiosity finally got the best of him. He decided the heck with it, and tore the letter open. "It's me again. I couldn't help but noticed you've seemed troubled lately. If there's one thing I hate it's seeing a frown on that handsome face. I find too much comfort in your easy going, and caring nature to fear that it may ever fade away. There's been so many times were I felt like the world was against me and nobody cared, but all I had to do was think of you or be near you and everything seemed to get better. I've often wondered if you ever felt the same way towards me..." TK stopped reading and mumbled something to himself. "That depends on who you are..." He refocused his eyes on the letter. "Whenever I fail to see the light through the darkness, you could bring a little hope into my life every time. That has meant the world to me... You have meant the world to me? Signed, Someone who loves you..."

Kari stared back and forth between TK's front door, and the envelope in her hand. She could drop it on the ground, knock on the door then run? No, that wouldn't work. What if his mother answered the door, or if no one was home which would be even worse. She could slide it under the door, or even knock on the door and hand it to him herself. "I could always say I found it hanging off the door or something. That way I can hint without actually telling him it's me," Kari tried to convince herself. She cringed remembering that TK even considered it may have been Casey writing her notes. She hadn't considered her interference when she started this. From the looks of things, she'd have to end this quick before Casey pulled something like Kari was fearing she eventually would. She finally said the heck with it, and decided to tape it to the door like she originally planned on doing. She pulled out the tape dispenser she had brought along just in case, and taped the letter to the front of the door. As she was finishing up, she heard the doorknob turning. Before she could react, the door opened, and she was standing face to face with TK. Both their faces turned an inhumanly shade of red, the other seemingly leaping out of their thoughts and into their reality.

"Kari!... What are...?" was all he managed to spit out. He was suddenly reminded of one of those overused setup scenes in cheesy romance movies. The girl he had been pinning over for the past..., who knows how long now, just happened to be standing right outside his front door. Go figure.

"TK!" Kari blushed, and smiled nervously. What were the odds of him opening that door, at the exact same time she was hanging up that letter? (Pretty dang good for this fic, or any other for that matter!) She quickly said the first thing that popped into her head. "You never answered my question from this afternoon, and I still want my answer..."

"Question?" he muttered, still tongue-tied. It was strange for him. He had never felt this uncomfortable around Kari since he had met her. It wasn't like she could've read his thoughts or anything, but he was still wary about it. He stared at her blankly for another second or two before finally snapping out of it. "Oh yeah!... I guess Davis actually did a favor for me for a change. I was just stepping out to clear my head, but I guess that can wait. Would you like to come inside?"

"Sure," Kari answered, without much debate. Apparently, TK hadn't noticed the envelope hanging off the door. She was too naive to realize it was because TK was too busy staring at her to notice, but then again she was too busy staring back at him to notice much of anything else either. 

Kari walked inside, and TK closed the door behind them. Unnoticed to them, a third party was nearby ease dropping on them.

"He invited her inside!" Casey cringed, while she grinded her teeth together. "I guess it makes sense... They are best friends, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! I'm jut going to have to break up their little party." Casey stormed to the door with purpose. She was going to knock when she noticed Kari's letter hanging from the door. She didn't have to think twice what it was, and a wicked plan quickly formulated in her head.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" TK asked Kari after he shut the door.

"You never answered my question. You know, who you hoped the girl was that was sending you those love letters you've been so in to."

"What makes you think I hope it's anyone?"

"Because it's your job to hope."

He couldn't argue with her there. "What makes you think it's a girl?" 

"What are you talking about?!" she scoffed, giving him a questioning look. "Are you trying to tell me something Takeru Takashi?!"

"Hey, you're the one that mentioned it might not be a girl, not me!"

"I asked you who you hoped it was TK, not what you're thinking..." Kari paused, as she realized what TK was trying to do. "Your purposely trying to avoid answering me aren't you?"

"You're catching on." He smiled, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Why won't you tell me TK? Are you afraid or something?"

"Maybe a little," TK admitted. He thought about telling her right there, but he voted against it at the last second. He couldn't risk telling her. Little did he know his answer was exactly what Kari was so desperate to hear.

"Have you even read the letter you got this afternoon yet?" she asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Yes, I did. It was very sweet, just like all the others. I still don't know who's writing them though. I think she's trying to leave me hints, but I can't be sure. I don't want to jump to any conclusions."

"What kind of hints?" Kari's voice cracked, and she blushed slightly. "I mean, if you can tell me the basics, maybe I can help you figure out who it is?"

"Oh you really think so?" TK asked teasingly. "You honestly think you know who's writing these things to me?"

"Maybe I do." Kari punctuated that sentence big time, without really noticing. She struggled to hold back a laugh more out of irritation than amusement. She had opened her mouth to speak again, when she thought she heard something coming from somewhere in the apartment. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's sounds like somebody's giggling."

"That's impossible! We're the only two people here," TK informed her. "My mom's working late in town tonight, and Pattamon's out doing who knows what. That little Digimon has been running off on his own a lot lately."

"You're kidding!" Kari gasped. "That's strange. Gatomon's been doing the same thing for a few weeks now."

"I guess I can't blame them." TK scratched the back of his head. "I guess they want to be a little more independent. Their forced to spend a lot of time cooped up in doors. As long as they don't get caught, I don't see any problem with it."

"Your right I suppose." Kari smiled, and looked up at him. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Your going to keep bugging me until I answer, aren't you?"

"You know it!"

TK smiled, and thought hard on what to say next. *Unless it's you, I really don't care either way Kari* That's what he wanted to say, and he was leaning towards deciding the hell with it and telling her. If he did, however, he could risk throwing their friendship out the window. He pondered that thought a short moment, before he realized how wrong that was. He knew Kari too well to think that, and he knew their bond was too strong for anything to break it. That's just the way she was. He may manage to make things a bit awkward from then on, but he could live with that. He could even try it nonchalantly, or claim he was only joking afterwards. Even if he summoned up the courage to do anything about it, he was faced with another problem. What if she wasn't writing the letters, and all his hopes were dashed? If he of all people lost hope, than how much of the stuff was left for anyone else? Still, he had to try something. He had to find out somehow, and soon enough he felt he had found a great idea to help him find out. 

"Hey Kari... Would you like to dance?"

"What?!" She laughed in surprise, and shot him a questioning glance.

"Do you want to dance? Just for fun," he replied. "I got this new CD the other day, and I've been looking for an excuse to show it off. If you do, then I might answer your question."

"That sounds fair," she guessed, as the mind games continued. "I don't dance that well though. Is that going to be a problem?"

"That's fine, I'm not all that good myself," TK laughed. "It's not quite what you're thinking anyway. We can just make it up as we go!"

"Okay...," she said, still unsure.

Kari followed TK into the living room, and over to a small stereo set up in the living room, the CD was already sitting conveniently inside. TK checked to make sure everything was in working order.

"What song did you have in mind TK?" she asked him.

"It's probably something you've never heard before." TK smiled widened. "Matt hates it when I listen to this stuff."

"Remember, we have a deal," She reminded him.

"I'll remember," he said nervously. *I hope this works* 

TK stood up, and smiled at Kari. She smiled back, and her eyes widen as TK took her hand in his. He placed his free to her side, causing them both to blush. The music started, and to Kari's surprise it was a fast beat instead of a slow one. She was in for a another surprise, as TK swung them all the way around in a circle causing them both to giggle. They continued on dancing just as TK suggested. They made it up as 

they went.

-A little country church on a two lane road.

-Bride and Groom coming out the door.

-White and lace dress, with a red bouquet.

-Just married written on a blue Chevrolet.

-Don't that make you want to fall in love?

-Don't that look like a picture of us?

-Some match made in heaven if there ever was.

-Don't that make you want to fall...

-That just makes me want to give you my heart.

-Ever forever needs a place to start.

-Gotta be a sign from up above.

-Don't that make you want to fall in love?

"Whoa!" Kari gasped, as TK slipped his hand around to the small of her back, and quickly dipped her. "What are you doing?!" she giggled, still arched back, her upper body pointing straight out.

"Dancing! At least I think I am?" he joked, as he pulled her back upright then spun her around again. "How am I doing?"

"Slow down! I can't keep up!" They both laughed, and kept moving. Actually Kari was doing just fine keeping pace. Not knowing what TK was going to do next was the hard part.

-Old folks sitting on a front porch swing.

-Still holding hands like they were sixteen.

-Fifty good years, a lover's dream.

-Darling that could be you and me.

-Don't that make you want to fall in love?

-Don't that look like a picture of us?

-A match made if heaven if there ever was.

-Don't that make you want to fall... 

-That just makes me want to give you my heart.

-Ever forever needs a place to start.

-Gotta be a sign from up above.

-Don't that make you want to fall in love?

Kari giggled faintly, watching TK sucking hard for breath, but trying to pretend he wasn't tired. She didn't know why he chose this song, but she thought it was cute. She pictured herself and TK getting married, and growing old together. It was a question she could easily answer, yes, but it was way to late for her. She had already fallen hard, and was ten feet in the ground by now. As her mind drifted, she lost focus on what she was doing, and before she knew it her feet had gotten tangled up in each other. She fell forward, but an alert TK caught her in his outstretched arms. Kari looked up, and of course, found TK's face just inches away from her own. Her dark brown eyes stared into his deep pools of blue, neither one of them sure what to say or do next, and vividly aware of how close their lips came to brushing across each other's. After ten seconds of that, they both blushed shades of red never known before today to be in the spectrum then backed away from each other cursing themselves for letting it happen, and not going any further.

"Sorry," Kari barely squeaked out.

"Nothing to be sorry about!" TK laughed nervously. "I didn't want you to fall on your face!"

TK went to shut off of the stereo, which had already switched to the next song. He mumbled to himself disgustedly. *You should've kissed her you idiot! At least that would've answered your questions. If she rejected it, you could always have blamed it on the heat of the moment! She might've accepted that... Rats! You're hopeless! Isn't that ironic...*

Kari stared at the ground, still blushing heavily. *Were we really just that close to...* Her thoughts were interrupted when the sounds of giggling caught her ear again. She was sure she wasn't hearing things this time. "Do you heart that TK?"

"Hear what?" His question was answered, as his ears picked up on the faint laughter. The voices sounded very familiar. "What is that?"

"It sounds like giggling."

"It's coming from my room. Let's check it out."

The two friends stalked quietly towards TK's door. The voices became clearer the closer they got, and by the time they reached his bedroom there wasn't a doubt in their minds who the voices belonged too. They both smiled, and looked at each other as if to say what the? TK placed his finger to his lips, signaling Kari to keep quiet, and carefully took the doorknob into his hand. TK flung the door open, and for a split second caught a glimpse of Pattamon and Gatomon cuddling awful close to each other, in such a way it was hard to tell which body parts belonged to which Digimon, before they quickly separated from each other scattering to different ends of the room.

"KARI!, TK!" Both Digimon called out the names of their respective partner simultaneously.

"What are you two doing?!" TK asked, failing to suppress a laugh.

"So this is why you two have been sneaking off on your own so much lately!" Kari beamed happily, her hand partially covering her mouth.

"It's not what you think!" they both cried at once. They looked at each other through desperate eyes. Pattamon landed on the bed as if to back down, allowing Gatomon to plead their case. "We've been listening to you guys, and we found it kind of amusing."

"Even so," TK began his interrogation. "I didn't know Kari was coming, and I haven't been home all that long myself. You two would've had to have been here for a least a short time before I got here. What's your excuse for that?"

Both Digimon's ears drooped, as they stared at their friends. "I think it's time for me to go," Gatomon said, as she hopped off the bed, and ran out the door. "Bye Pattamon!"

"Gatomon, wait up!" Kari called after her. She looked at TK with a broad curious smile. "I've got to catch up with her. I've got to hear more about this! I'll talk to you later TK."

"Bye Kari," TK said, as she left the room. His eyes then shifted towards Pattamon, who was facing the other way trying not to look TK in the face. Maybe it was just his orange fur, but TK could've swore Pattamon was blushing. TK struggled with all his will not to giggle.

"It's not what you're thinking TK," he said flatly.

TK couldn't hold it in any longer, and he burst out laughing. "HA! HA! HA! HA!" He clutched his stomach, and fell to the floor. He rolled around while kicking his feet in the air. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"IT'S NOT FUNNY TK!"  


*In the hallway*

This time, Casey just couldn't resist but read Kari's letter. Her mouth dropped open somewhere around the third line, and she had been that way ever since. By the time she finished, she knew she couldn't go through with this any longer. The feeling and emotion Kari had poured into it was outstanding. She realized what ever it was Kari felt for TK, it went far beyond the now seemingly meaningless infatuation she was feeling. She couldn't possibly compare. Her moment was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. She hid herself behind one of the protruding hallway beams, making sure she couldn't be seen.

"Hold your horses Gatomon! I want to know what's going on here!"

Casey peeked out from behind the beam, and watched Kari dissapear into the elevator. Lucky for Kari, Casey didn't catch of glimpse of Gatomon, and didn't give a second thought regarding who Gatomon was. She had other things on her mind...

*TK's Bedroom*

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"STOP LAUGHING TK!"

"I'm sor... I'm sorry Pattamon." TK managed, to push himself up to his knees with the support of his bed, tears pushing through his eyelids. "It was just unexpected.. Te, he! Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Because of that!" Pattamon pouted, as he plopped the round little thing he dared to call his butt down on the bed. "I knew you'd just laugh at me..."

TK stopped laughing, as guilt took over. "That's not why I was laughing Pattamon. I wasn't trying to tease you. Actually, I thought it was cute!"

"Then why were you laughing?..." he moped

TK sat down on the bed next to Pattamon. "Well... It was kind of a combination of things. That was about the last thing I expected to see when I walked in the door, and it really wasn't all that surprising at the same time, you know?"

"No!"

"Let's just say it was the reaction you had when we caught you that I was laughing at rather than you guys. What was with that anyway? Are you guys ashamed of what you're doing or something? You really shouldn't be."

"I don't know..." Pattamon pouted, clearly unsure of himself. "I'm not even sure what's going on..."

"You don't know what's going on?" TK questioned. Like he had done numerous times before, he had forgotten his friend was a Digimon, and a lot of these normally human based emotions could easily confuse him. "I think I see... Maybe I can help you. Do you remember when this all started?"

"Not exactly." Pattamon searched his memories. "I guess it started a while ago... I started to feel this strange feeling whenever I was around Gatomon. At first I got scared and tried to avoid her. I thought things would go back to normal, but they just got worse. I started feeling sad, so I started confronting Gatomon again. She said she was feeling the exact same way. We were happy to be around each other again, but the weird feelings came back. We were scared because we didn't know what the feelings were, so then we tried to hide it from everyone else because we were scared what you guys would think, and... Oh, this is all so frustrating!"

"Whoa! Settle down little guy! I can see how hard that can be for one little Digimon to take in. I think I know what you're going through."

"You do?" Pattamon's ears or wings, whatever you want to call them, perked up.

"I think so," TK smirked. "Let me ask you a few questions. Does it feel good when you're with her?"

"Yes..." Pattamon cracked a smile.

"Do you find it hard to think straight whenever she gets near you?"

Pattamon's smile faded. "Sometimes... It use to happen a lot before though..."

"Do you think about her all the time? Does she look at you in a certain way that makes you melt inside? Has she ever made do or say something stupid that you would've never thought of doing before, or find yourself wanting to be with all the time. Just wanting to hear her voice or see her smile, or, or...." TK sweat dropped as he noticed that he was rambling, and Pattamon was staring at him. "I think you get the point."

"Actually... I have," the Digimon mumbled. "You sure know a lot about this."

"Well, that's what I've heard here and there!" TK laughed.

"Is that the way you feel about Kari?" he asked suddenly.

TK froze, except for a light blush creeping across his face. "Well... Yeah, kind of. The truth is that isn't the half of it. It's something humans call love... I'm not sure if I want to use that in your case though. Maybe you're feeling the Digimon equivalent to it at least."

"Love... Is it always this frustrating?!"

TK couldn't help but laugh. "I guess so! Love is something that makes us feel and act strange for and around a certain person. There are different types of love, like what I feel for my brother and parents, but there is a special type that only exists between two people who are connected by their souls. Love makes us feel ways about that person that we just don't feel with anyone else. That's what makes it so special."

"You human's sure have some weird customs." Pattamon's ears perked up, and he smiled. "But I think I like this one."

"You'll get use to it Pattamon." TK looked at Pattamon, and started giggling again.

"Why are you laughing again?!" He demanded.

"Well, it's kind of funny... You wound up getting the girl before me!"

"Huh?"

*Back in the hallway*

"I want to go home, and pretend all this never happened." Casey sighed, and re-sealed the envelope the best she could. She slid it under the door, and took off in the direction of the elevator.

TK wandered into the living room, still giggling from his conversation with Pattamon. He laughed so hard, he doubled over, allowing him to notice something sliding in underneath the door. His eyes widen as he realized what it was, and raced to the door with hopes of catching a glimpse of the culprit. He regretted it almost immediately. It was a short but all to clear view of the elevator doors closing with Casey inside, confirming he worst fear. 

"I knew it." TK sulked back inside, and leaned up against the wall. He felt a strong pressure in his chest, and just maybe might've felt a piece of his heart break.   


********

"What's taking her so long?!" Davis waited impatiently outside the large complex were TK, Yolie, and Cody lived. After he had walked Kari home, she told him she was going to be busy that afternoon, so he left. Feeling he had given up to easily, he went back five minutes later only to find she had run off to TK's place. Of course, Davis got extremely jealous, and tailed Kari over here. He just happened to bump into Casey on the way over. She ordered him to wait outside, and she went in to do her thing. All he could do right now, was stand around and wait, but his curiosity was killing him. Truthfully speaking though, Kari wasn't really who was on his mind that afternoon. "What's going on up there?!"

Finally, Casey emerged from the building, hanging her head slightly. Davis didn't notice at first, and ran towards her. "Hey Casey! Did you find out anything?"

"I'm not going through with it Davis," was all she said, as she blew past him. 

"Wait a second! What are you talking about!" Davis ran in front her, and blocked her path. A look of anger, faded into one of concern when he saw the expression on her face. It bordered along the lines of depressed and awestruck. "Are you okay?... What happened up there?"

"She really loves him Davis," she sighed. "More than I ever thought I could. I can't get in their way. I just don't feel right about it anymore. If you still want to go after Kari that's your choice, but you're on your own if you do. I think you'd just be wasting your time though..."

"Casey, wait up!" Davis called out to her, as she walked away. He took one last look up at the apartment complex. He decided Kari would have to wait for now, and went after Casey. 

********

After a long hard interrogation, Kari finally managed to squeeze what she wanted to know out of Gatomon. She stalled, tried to change the subject, and her story changed several times but Gatomon eventually caved in. Now they were stretched out across the living room couch, immersed in the middle of a conversation nether one of them had ever expected to have with the other. It was basically the same conversation TK had with Pattamon, only from their own perspectives.

"Please don't tell any of the other's right now!" Gatomon pleaded. "We will when the time is right... Were just not ready at the moment."

"I promise," Kari replied, while making a crossing symbol at her heart. "And I'll make TK promise too. I can't get over this though... It's so cute! I hope you don't mind my asking, but when did you first notice you were falling in love with Pattamon."

"Wait a second there Kari!" Gatomon screeched in horror. "I wouldn't go saying I'm in love with Pattamon just yet! I admitted I feel something, I just don't know what that something is yet..."

"Whatever," Kari sneered, clearly not believing her. "Okay, then when did you start feeling, whatever it is your feeling for Pattamon right now?"

"Well..." Gatomon paused a brief moment, then smiled. "Actually, it was right before you, TK, Davis, and the others came back to the digital world. Remember when I told you how I lost my tail ring? I ran around frantic looking for it. I ran into Pattamon shortly afterwards, and of course he tried to help me. After a while, I gave up hope of ever finding it. Pattamon refused to give up, even after I had thrown in the towel. Of course he never found it, but he ran himself ragged trying. I finally had to hold him down, and force him to rest and eat something. He was completely worn out, but he still refused to give up. I asked him why, and he told me that he hated seeing me so upset and distraught over losing my tail ring. When I first lost it, it felt like a part of me was ripped out from the inside, and it was really hard to deal with at first. There were times that I'd even break down and cry, and one night Pattamon decided he couldn't take it anymore. He said he wasn't sure why, but he had to do this for me... That's when this whole thing started. After that, it was like at least some of that piece of my identity that was taken away returned to me through him somehow. I've never quite known how to explain it but..."

Kari looked like she was ready to cry. "Oh Gatomon! That's so romantic!"

  
"Romantic? What's that mean?"

"Ha! Come here, and I'll try to explain it to you."

********

"Oh Sora! This is so cool!" Mimi squealed, as she re-read one of the several letters her friend had received for the fifth time. "It looks like someone has a secret admirer!"

"You really think so Mimi?" Sora asked sarcastically, and smiled half-heartedly.

"I'm so jealous! All New York boys care about is pizza and American football!" Mimi pouted. "Do you have any idea who it might be? Or who you want it to be?"

"Well... Yes." Her face tensed up, and she blushed. "I have one suspect I wouldn't object to that much, but I really doubt it's him. He's just not the romantic type, and I sincerely doubt he has this in him. Besides, he knows I've been getting this letters, and he's kind of giving me a hard time about it."

"That could be a cover you know," Mimi informed her. "He might be waiting for just the right time to spring it on you."

"I don't know... I think he thinks this is all a big joke or something."

Mimi sighed. She hoped Sora wouldn't make her do this, but she had ran out of options. "If you're really that worried about it, then why don't you just confront Tai, and ask him yourself?"

"WHAT?!" Sora fell to the ground like she just had a heart attack. She pushed herself up nervously. "But I didn't say that Tai was...!What makes you think Tai is...?!"

"Come on Sora," Mimi pleaded with her. "You think just because I've been in America so long, I don't know what's going on around here? The person writing you these love notes obviously knows you pretty well. That cuts down your list of suspect's right there. Look at the way he signs them for heavens sake! Wouldn't you like to know? If that isn't vintage Tai, I don't know what is!"

"He's does know me better than anyone," Sora agreed. "But can you really imagine Tai writing something like this. I mean come on! This is TAI were talking about here! TAI!"

"I get the point Sora!" Mimi tried not to giggle. "I know Tai doesn't seem like the romantic type, actually he might just be the farthest thing from it that I can imagine, but sometimes guys like that can surprise you. They may try to act tough on the outside, but they can be big softies on the inside when they want to be!"

"Maybe... I just don't know..."

"What's the matter? You still have a crush on him don't you?"

"No I don't!" Mimi gave her this cold-crossed look that caused Sora to cave in immediately. "It's worse... And I know what you're getting at, because I know that soft side is there. He never shows it in public, but I've seen it. Whenever I've needed him, he's always been there for me with a kind word and a shoulder to cry on... Just like a friend should be, but that's the problem. He's always been there as a friend, and though my feelings may have grown beyond that that doesn't mean his ever did..."

Mimi smiled triumphantly, knowing just what to say in this situation. "I know this doesn't account for everybody, but I've heard that two people who start of as friends have an easier time falling in love with each other. At least the ones that had grown up really close to each other, and have a special bond that is obvious to everyone around them. I guess you can say it's kind of like the seeds of love starting to grow, and they don't began to fully bloom until they reach a certain stage in life."

Sora stared at Mimi dumbfounded. "I suppose... You mean kind of like Kari and TK?"

Mimi's eyes widen in surprise, but her face soon settled then she smiled. "Well, kind of. Actually, they may be the perfect example. I wonder when they're finally going to notice! Anyway, you're on the right track, but I was thinking more along the lines of you and Tai."

"Me and Tai?" she asked nervously, knowing where Mimi was headed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, how long have you two known each other? Since you were four I believe you said, and you guys have been close friends ever since right?"

"Yeah... The closest." Sora smiled, recalling some of her oldest, and cherished memories.

*Flashback 8 years ago*

Her memories were sketchy at best, since it was such a long time ago, however the dearest aspects of that day would remain fully etched in her mind for the rest of her life. It seemed like so long ago, they couldn't have been much older than seven or eight. Tai had been teasing Sora rather harshly, in order to look like a big shot in front of a group of his friends. It hurt the little boy tremendously to treat her like this, but boys will be boys. After finally having enough, Sora burst into tears, and took off on her bike. In her haste the younger Sora lost control of her bike, and wound up getting thrown hard to the ground. All of a sudden, Tai forgot all about his so-called friends, and their teasing and smart remarks didn't seem to matter anymore. He ran to his fallen friend, ignoring the snickering from the other boys.

"SORA! Are you alright?!" he panted, clearly panicky. His face was beat-read, and he was out of breath from the run. Sora had gotten a good distance away before her accident.

"NO!" she sobbed, tears streaking down her face, and they weren't out of pain from the fall. "GO AWAY! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU ANYMORE EITHER!"

"I didn't mean what I said Sora! I had to say it... The guys said they would tell everyone at school that I was a little wussy that likes to hang out with girls!"

"And what's wrong with girls!" Sora sobbed again, and turned her head away from him. "You better get away from me then! If you stay here to long your new friends might make fun of you again. After all I am a yucky girl aren't I?!"

"Forget those guys! I'm sorry Sorie... You're my best friend, and I shouldn't have said all those mean things... I won't do it again I promise! I don't care what the guys think!" Tai extended his hand to her, and Sora looked up still undecided whether to accept it or not. Her tearstained eyes looked up, and witnessed the conviction in the chocolate brown heart breakers that she had learned to trust with her life. It wouldn't be the last time he'd do this to her either. She wiped a tear from her face, and allowed Tai to help her up. She grabbed her knee, and winced in pain due to a nasty little bruise the fall had left on her knee. 

"What's wrong Sorie?" Tai asked with concern. 

"My knee hurts..." Sora whined.

"I'm sorry, It's my fault. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well... You can kiss it, and make it better," she teased, knowing full well how adamantly Tai would object under normal circumstances. She had him over a barrel this time since he now owed her one.

"But that won't work?!" he protested.

"It couldn't hurt... Besides, if you're really sorry you'll do it."

"Okay," Tai sighed, giving in quickly. He bent down, and gave Sora a quick peck on the kneecap. He looked at Sora who giggled and nodded her approval. Tai jokingly grabbed at his throat and gagged violently. "Oh great! Now I've got cooties!"

"I DO NOT HAVE COOTIES TAICHI KAMIYA!" Tai busted out laughing, and sprinted away. Sora followed in hot pursuit, doing pretty well with one wobbly leg, and chased him all around the small park in front of the apartment complex both their families live in at the time.

"He could be a real sweetie when he wants to be," Sora said dreamily, as she slid back into reality. 

"Dreaming out loud?" Mimi asked. 

"What?!" Sora's face turned beat-red. "Did I just space out there..."

"For a good minute and a half," Mimi replied. "What were you daydreaming about, besides Tai anyway?"

"Just strolling down memory lane."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I haven't decided." She lowered her head in doubt. "I've thought about waiting this through, and seeing what happens at the end, but I could be setting myself up for a bit disappointment. I'd like to find out if it is him ahead of time... Then at least I'd be able to enjoy this again."

"The only thing you can do then is to go up to him, and ask him," Mimi said bluntly.

Sora cringed at the mere idea of it. "No way Mimi! If he's not writing the letters, which I'm fairly sure he isn't, that's going to cause nothing but problems. I'm not willing to chance our friendship over something that isn't a sure thing."

"Never mind," Mimi moaned in disgust. "You'll just have to wait it through then. I don't understand why people always have to make things so hard on themselves anyway. Why can't you two just come out, and say you love each other without making it into a long-winded overdramatic soap opera?! Not that I don't like my soaps mind you."

"Because you don't let logic get in the way of a good story."

"Good point."

********

"Not today you piece of junk!" TK slammed his fist into his locker, feeling a strange combination of disgust, remorse, and anger. It obviously hadn't left him in the best of moods, and at the moment he wouldn't think twice about punching out the rusty slab of plastic. He had a lot to do that morning, and the first thing on the agenda was a trip to the computer room where he knew Izzie would be that morning. After his fifth try failed, he said to hell with it, and decided to come back and try it again after he talked to Izzie. TK was desperate to talk to him regarding a certain cousin of his that had trampled all over TK's last nerve. He stormed into the computer room, and slammed the door behind him. Startled, Izzie looked up from his computer and noticed TK was far from his normally cheerful self that morning.

"TK? What's up? You look like you just opened up a e-mail that downloaded a virus into your hard drive rendering your computer useless."

"Huh?" TK looked confused, then shook his head. "No, nothing like that! I need to talk to you for a sec. Concerning your cousin Casey."

Izzie's face practically dropped to the floor. "Oh no... What did she do now?"

"What? Now?"

"Yeah, she always seems to be in some kind of trouble with somebody. She's very opinionative, and kind of pushy and bossy, so she tends to ruffle a lot of feathers."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" TK sighed disgustedly. "I'm sure she's mentioned this once or twice, but she has a crush on me."

"Are you kidding!" Izzie laughed. "You've been her favorite topic of conversation over at our apartment for the past several weeks now!"

"Yeah, I was faltered at first, but she's been taking this way to far! I've tried absolutely everything I possibly can to tell her I'm not interested, but I just can't get it through that thick skull of hers! I don't like to be mean, but I'm this close to exploding and telling her to take a nosedive into a river of angry piranhas!"

Izzie nodded his head, resting his hand underneath his chin. "I understand where you're coming from. Casey is very persistent, and she's use to getting what she wants. Heck, forgot putting it mildly, she's a spoiled brat. Always has been. I love her, but it's the truth. Anyway, I don't see why you felt you had to come to me with this. What did you expect me to do?"

"Well, you're her cousin!" he yelled, growing even more annoyed, not at Izzie but at the thought of Casey again. "I was hoping you can talk to her or something! Help me get her off my back, God knows she won't listen to me!"

"I'm afraid there's nothing much I can do. Once Casey has her mind set to something, or in this case someone being you, there's no stopping her. Even if you did tell her to get lost I doubt that would do you any good. Casey doesn't give up that easily. The best you can hope for is to wait her out, and hope she loses interest in you. On the other hand, you can always consider giving her a shot. I know she can be a little eccentric at times, but she can be as sweet as she can be most of the time."

"A little eccentric!" TK gasped, with a look warning Izzie he had about ten seconds to live. "You've got to be kidding me! Don't get me wrong, I like Casey, but it's just not in that way! She's like a female version of Davis for crying out loud! Only better looking, and quite possibly even a little more arrogant! Now she's writing me these love letters, and I want her to stop! This has gotten completely out of hand!"

"Wait! Hold on a second! Love letters?!" Izzie asked, intrigued by this latest revelation.

"Yeah, like this." He plopped his latest letter on the desk Izzie was sitting at. Izzie examined it, and found a rather touching little poem concerning the persons feelings for TK. Actually, even a little computer nerd like Izzie found it to be quite beautiful. "That's the fourth one so far, and I've had it up to here with it!"

"So I see... However, I don't know why this upsets so much. I think this is rather sweet. I mean I know I'd be touched by it."

"I was too at first..." TK turned his head, not sure what to say next. "It's just well..."

"Am I correct in the assumption that there's more than meets the eye to this situation?" Izzie inquired.

TK's face flushed instantaneously, as if expecting the question, well not quite asked that way. "Well... Kind of..." TK sighed, and drooped his head. "Look I originally thought... Well, I originally hoped that someone else was writing these letters to me... When I found out it was Casey, and not her it did upset me a bit. Not that I ever really expected it was her, but it still hit me kind of hard..."

"Oh, I see." Izzie nodded again, now completely understanding the situation. He took another long look at the poem, and turned his eyes back to TK. "Are you one hundred percent positive Casey has been writing these?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Casey is a very smart young lady, but poetry is not her strong suit. In fact, she once had to write a poem for her English class, (the Japanese equivalent anyway) and the poor girl could barely manage to string two lines together, and she tried to rhyme moon with dismember. I really, and I mean I really can't picture her authoring anything this in depth and masterful. Are you absolutely sure it was her?"

"I'm positive," TK stayed firm. "I saw her slip it under my door yesterday afternoon, and caught a glimpse of her fleeing the scene after I looked out my door."

"That is strange, but I'm not convinced. Don't give up hope TK. Maybe you'll find out you've made a mistake, and Kari really is behind the pen so to speak."

"WHA, WHA, WHAT!" TK bellowed, his face going off in typical anime fashion. "What in the world would give you the idea that I meant Kari?!"

"Well, I thought it was public knowledge," he answered in all honesty.

"No, because if it was then I'm sure I'd know about it!" TK looked up at the clock, and noticed it was getting dangerously close to the start of class, and he still had a return trip to his locker to make. It was just fine for him since this conversation had just turned against him anyway. "The bell's going to ring soon. I better get going, we'll have to finish this talk another time. Bye Izzie!"

"Good bye TK..." Izzie had a look at the clock himself, and sweat dropped. "I have to be getting back to my school pretty soon! I better hurry, and get this done A.S.A.P.!"

********

Kari stood in front of TK's locker, staring down at the envelope in her hands. This was it. The grand finale of everything she had worked towards up to this point. Where her sweetest dream will finally come true, or come crashing to a horrid end. Much to her surprise, she wasn't the least bit afraid any longer, and she was actually excited. Thrilled even. This was her masterpiece. She poured every last shred of her heart and soul into that one last letter. Every feeling she ever felt for him, every memory she could scratch up, somehow all rolled up into several lines on a sheet of plane notebook paper. She was so proud of herself, and she had actually made herself cry when she re-read the final draft to herself the night before. She worked non-stop on it, staying up half the night making sure every line was perfect. She had gotten it to a point, where she was afraid one more word would upset the entire feel of the letter, just like she wanted it to be. It was perfect... just like him she thought. She made sure no one was looking, and pushed the envelope through the bottom slit on his locker door. She retreated to her own locker, which was located across the hall from his. The only drawback to this, was Davis's locker was right next to Kari's. She wouldn't mind it so much, if he didn't try to hit on her or accidentally bump into her every single chance he got. Davis just happened to be at his locker, and saw exactly what she was doing. He decided to say nothing, and stood silently at his locker as Kari walked to hers, both pretending nothing had just happened.

TK staggered to his locker, and luckily for it, it opened on the first try this time. TK opened it, and yet another envelope fell out at his feet. Davis and Kari watched him kneel down and pick it up from across the hall. Kari smiled and Davis frowned. All they could see was the back of TK's head, so nether one noticed TK grimace as he stared at the object in his hand. He rather aggressively shoved the letter in his bag, and headed off for class. Kari slammed her locker shut, and cheered silently. 

"Can I ask you something Kari?" Davis asked suddenly, with a very serious tone in his voice.

"As long as you're not going to ask me out, fire away."

"All joking aside Kari... I know I like to talk and act big, and how I run around telling everyone you're my girl... Now that I think about it, I don't see how you even put up with me..."

"Because I've learned to ignore you Davis," Kari joked, but she was partially serious. "Was that all you wanted to tell me, or is something else on your mind?"

Davis hesitated, but built up his courage rather quickly. "I was just wondering Kari... Was there ever... I mean is there even a chance that you and me could ever... You know."

Kari was shocked by his question. She searched for the right words, trying to find them as quickly as she could. She didn't want to hurt Davis, but the truth would definitely break his heart. Then again, she couldn't lead him on either, or give him false hope that wasn't really there. "I'm sorry Davis... I'd like to say that there's a chance for anything to happen down the road, but for this situation there just isn't. And there never was... I'm really sorry Davis."

To Kari's surprise, instead of getting mad or upset, Davis simply grinned. It wasn't a happy smile, but it wasn't fake either. It was kind of a mood point, like Davis was cycling in-between emotions. He replied to her in a low whisper, almost melancholy tone. "Thanks Kari... But I think I've known that all along. I just refused to accept it, and kept on pushing for something I knew I could never have. Instead of pulling you closer to me, I guess all I really did was drive you further away. Anyway, I've always had a good idea your heart belonged to somebody else..."

Kari blushed lightly. "What do you mean?" 

Davis giggled lightly. "There's no point in me telling you what you already know. You deserve to be happy, and so do I Kari. I know what I have to do you, and you know what you have to do. Don't give up on *hope* Kari. I'll catch you later!" Davis said his exit in normal Davis fashion. He closed his locker, and headed for class seeming rather at ease with himself. Kari stood there completely baffled, and wasn't brought of it until the sound of the tardy bell rung throughout the school.

"Oh no! I'm late!"

********

Gatomon and Pattamon sat perched in a large tree in near the front of the school, well hidden from the prying eyes of on lookers. It had been a while since TK and Kari had stopped bringing their Digimon to school with them. That was purely the Digimon's decision, as they grew tired of constantly being stuffed in book bags, and having to be hid God knows where on a daily basis. They usually only came out at night, but today was a special occasion. They knew what Kari had been doing, and they wanted to it see come to it's full fruition. They also had a mild interest in watching Tai do his thing, as he took his last steps as well. Though they were completely unaware of it, in a strange twist of irony, this day was also the exact one year anniversary of when Gatomon and Pattamon's relationship began to bloom into what it had become.

"When does school let out anyway? We've been waiting up here for hours!" Gatomon whined, watching the front doors of the school with her keen eyes.

"What's wrong with that? You don't like being stuck up here all this time with me?" Pattamon asked, trying his best to sound offended.

"That's not what I meant!" She giggled, and nudged Pattamon with her paw. "I can't wait to see Kari that's all. She really worked hard last night, and I really want to see them finally come together."

"Me too! TK's finally going to be happy..." Pattamon's attention diverted down to something below.

"What are you looking at?" 

"What's going on down there?"

The two Digimon watched, as a rather slick looking young man with black hair and sunglasses, approached a young woman reading a book behind the tree they were hiding in. She was a brunet with green eyes, and her hair pined back in a ponytail. 

"Hey there little lady," the boy said, as he took the book out of her hands. "Why don't you tear yourself away from that book for a while, and get yourself lost in yours truly."

"Speaking of getting lost, why don't you go play in the woods? Hopefully no one will ever find you!"

"What are they doing?" Gatomon asked Pattamon.

"I've heard TK talk about this before. It's called flirting. It's what human's do when they want to date somebody."

"Date? What's that?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It's something humans do when they like each other, or something like that." Their attention both shifted downward, as they both heard a loud smacking sound. They watched the girl stomp away angrily. The boy had a freshly made hand print on his face, from where the girl had just slapped the taste out of his mouth.

"Creep!"

"I'll take that as a maybe?!"

"Oh, I get it now!" Gatomon said. "Kari and Davis do that all the time."

"What? Date?" Pattamon asked, slightly confused.

"No. Davis would talk to Kari like that, and she'd slap him in the face."

*Outside the High School*

Sora walked out of school nervously, and stared down the letter in her hand. She was still ferociously debating whether or not to confront Tai about it. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten much time to think it over before Tai had found her.

"Hey Sora! Whatcha up to," he asked, trying his damnedest not to show how nervous he actually was. The first thing he noticed was his letter in her hand, and that helped to calm him down a great deal. He even found himself giggling again. "What's that, another one? Or are you still reading the same one over again?!"

"Maybe I am," she said, rather disgustedly. She couldn't believe he was laughing at her again. "It's actually very touching, and I like reading them."

"Oh really," he replied blushing slightly, and now giggling like an idiot.

"What's so funny?! Some people like a little romance in their lives, so what's wrong with that?!"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you'd like to see this one too?" He held out the envelope in his hand, trying desperately to keep his arm steady. Sora blushed brightly, and reluctantly accepted it. 

"Where did you get this?!" It came out more like a demand than a question.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" he suggested.

"Why is it wet?"

"I have no idea." Tai snuck his hand behind his back, and wiped the sweat off his palm into the back of his pants.

"So this... Is this... Really from you?" She asked nervously. She couldn't even bring herself to look up at him, and if she did she would've noticed his face had completely erupted lava-red.

"Uh-huh," he muttered, and nodded his head.

"So.. This... THIS IS JUST A JOKE ISN'T IT?!"

"What?!"

Tears began to stream down Sora's face, her voice cracking as she talked. "THIS IS ALL A BIG JOKE TO YOU RIGHT! WELL LAUGH IT UP, AND I DON'T THINK IT'S FUNNY AT ALL TAICHI KAMIYA! WHAT WAS IT?! DID YOU HAVE A BET WITH ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS MAYBE?! YOU NEVER GIVE UP DO YOU! YOU CLAIM YOUR MY BEST FRIEND, BUT YOU DON'T THINK TWICE ABOUT TREATING ME LIKE DIRT IF IT SUITES YOUR NEEDS! YOU NEVER GREW UP DID YOU! IT'S NOT RIGHT TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE'S EMOTIONS LIKE THIS! TO THINK I ACTUALLY HOPED IT WAS YOU THE ENTIRE TIME! YOU CAN JUST STAND THERE AND LAUGH AT ME ALL YOU WANT TO! YOU MAKE ME SICK!" With that, Sora reached up, and smacked Tai right across the face before running off still crying her eyes out. All Tai could do was stand there, and watch her run away stuck in a state of complete shock, not once noticing the stinging pain on his left cheek.

"That's... That's not exactly the way I pictured this..."

********

"I'm so glad schools finally over with!" Kari declared, releasing a huge yawn partially from her lack of sleep the night before. It had only been a two day school week, but she could swear it was the longest two days she had ever experienced in her entire life. "I almost dozed off twice during Algebra."

"If your this wore out after two days, what are you going to do come Monday when you have to go through an entire week!" TK joked, trying his best to act like his normal cheery self. He was still upset, but he saw no reason to take that out on Kari. He put on his best face, knowing full well Kari could easily detect any wrinkle in his demeanor that might be hiding his true feelings. Little did he know what Kari was about to spring on him any minute now.

"I've done it a hundred times before. I'll get through it somehow!" 

Kari and TK walked slowly, headed for nowhere in particular, and carrying on rather casual conversation to that point. It was rather uninteresting to most everyone except for two lone people watching them from a bench across the street. Davis was sitting next to Casey, with his hands resting under his chin.

"I don't know why this is bothering me so much," Davis muttered. "I've seen it coming for a long time... I tried everything to stop it, but it's like driving a pinto into a semi! I'm laying on the side of the road like a crunched up soda can, well they drive off without even knowing they hit me!"

"There's nothing you can do about it," Casey said. "You can hate TK all you want but it's not going to change anything."

"You know something?" Davis asked, deep in thought. "This may sound strange, but I don't hate TK. I never really did. Trust me, I tried hard, and even pretended I did at times. I was jealous of him from the start. The way I saw Kari's eyes light up when he walked into class that first day, I knew I was screwed right then. They had known each other longer, and been through things together I'd never understand. I treated him like dirt, but he would still stand up for me, and always tried to give me a good word. I'd respond by either insulting or ignoring him, but he never acted hostile towards me for it. Only when I pushed him too far, and we actually did wind up fighting a few times. He's everything anyone should want in a friend, and all I've done is act like a jerk because he had something I wanted and could never have. I'm sure you've been thinking the same way about Kari."

"No I still can't stand her!" Casey cringed, causing Davis's eyes to widen. "I just can't stand that I'm such a sweet little angel attitude of hers! It's makes me want to puke!"

Davis couldn't help but laugh a little. "I'm sure that's just because you haven't had a chance to get to know her that well yet. I'm sure your opinion will change once you do." 

"We'll see... You'll get over her eventually," Casey assured him. "It's hard to get over your first love, but the wound will heal with time."

"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure that it ever was love I was feeling. Infatuation maybe. I thought I was in love, but lately I've been having mixed emotions."

"Ditto." Casey blushed at letting that slip loose. "What exactly do you mean by mixed emotions?"

"Well..." Davis rubbed the back of his neck, and his face flashed like a neon sign. "I mean that I seem to have someone else on my mind a lot lately..."

Casey blushed herself, avoiding making eye contact with him. Casey started grinding her foot into the ground, kind of like a nervous twitch. "You know... I've been faced with a similar situation myself..." Both their faces grew inhumanly red, and they sat their silently for what seemed like hours cursing themselves out in their minds.

*Come on Davis! What's the matter with you?! You never had problems hitting on Kari! Why is this so hard? It's just like kicking a soccer ball, so shoot already! This just feels kind of different for some reason.*

*Come on Casey! Why am I so nervous?! I hung around TK like a necktie, and never had any problems! I've never acted shy before, so what's my problem right now?! This just feels different some how...*

They turned their heads to each other simultaneously, and their eyes met for a brief moment. They panicked, and bolted up from their seats.

Davis sweat dropped, and desperately looked for a quick exit. "Well, it was really nice talking to you, but I really need to be getting home... ha, ha.."

"Yeah me too," Casey said quickly, and took a step back. "I'll see you later Davis." She took another step back, when she tripped and fell backwards. Davis ran forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her upright. Casey blushed again, and smiled shyly causing Davis to realize what he was doing. His face gushed all sorts of shades of red, and he quickly let go. 

"Thank you," she whispered, while suddenly finding the sidewalk quite interesting.

"No problem," he replied, trying to flash his normal confident face. He turned to go, and after one step turned back towards Casey who was still staring at the ground. "You know Casey... I.. Uh..."

"What?" Casey asked, suddenly finding herself more comfortable.

"Well, I was just wondering... Well... Under the circumstances... I... I... mean."

"I'm listening. Spit it out Davis."

"I'm getting at it!" Davis cracked, trying to maintain his composure. Well, what little he had right then anyway. "It's just that I've noticed nether one of us will obviously be busy this weekend... I was thinking... Well I uh... I, I..."

Casey frowned, growing annoyed. "Look Davis, are you going to ask me out or not?! Or am I going to have to do everything myself?!"

"I was just about to! Well... Would you?"

She calmed herself down, and smiled. "I may be up for it... On one condition, that we skip dinner. It'll be a while before I ever trust you around food again."

"Hey it's not my fault! Maybe you have a built in magnet in your head that attracts cafeteria food!" he joked, suddenly gelling back into his normal confident self.

"Very funny," she said, as she wrapped her arms around one of his, causing Davis's cheeks to redden again. "Now, why don't you walk me home, and we can talk about what you have in mind?"

"Kay..."

*Kari and TK* 

"I noticed you pick something up at your locker this morning," Kari announced. "Did you get another one of those letters?"

"Yeah I did," he responded with disinterest. "I haven't bothered to read it yet though."

"You still haven't answered my question from yesterday TK." Kari asked casually. She blushed, and rubbed her arm. "You got out of it yesterday, but Pattamon and Gatomon aren't here to distract us this time."

"None of that really matters anymore?" TK sighed. Kari looked at him questioningly. "I already know who it is?"

"You do!" Kari stopped dead in her tracks, and proceeded to panic. *He knows! Here it comes! Oh... I wasn't expecting it so quick! I'm not ready! Oh no, oh no, oh no!* 

"Kari?" TK asked, wondering why her face had gotten so red. "Something wrong?"

"Oh ah... No. You know who it is then?... So, how do you feel about it?"

"You really want to know Kari." He glanced at Kari with a cold uncaring glare. At least she knew looks couldn't kill, because if they did she'd be ten feet in the ground by then. Nothing on Earth could've prepared her for what he did next. TK removed the still sealed envelope from his bag, and opened it before removing its contents. He wasn't sure why he did what he did next, maybe it was emotion getting the best of him. He crumpled up the still folded letter into a small paper ball, and tossed it into a nearby trashcan they just happened to have stopped in front of. "That's what I think about it."

The world appeared to freeze around her, and the only sound she could hear she could only describe as her heart shattering into a million pieces. She had prepared herself for the worst, but she never expected his. He didn't just tell her no, let her down gently, or even simply tell her he didn't return her feelings. He literally crumpled up all of her hopes and dreams, and threw them right back in her face with so much distain it was unreal. Everything she believed in, and worked so hard at was now lying with the rest of the garbage, and he hadn't even bothered to read it. She had poured all of her heart and soul into it, and he didn't just reject it, he spit on it. He might as well have ripped out her heart, and thrown it in the trash instead. 

"How... How could you?!"

"Kari? What's the matter?

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT'S THE MATTER?!" she shouted, as the floodgates in her eyes burst opened. "DON'T YOU THINK A SIMPLE NO WOULD'VE SUFFICED?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!"

"What do you mean a simple no?" he asked, completely puzzled as to why she was acting like this. As far as TK knew she didn't even like Casey. "Why are you crying? What's wrong?!"

He reached out for her, but Kari slapped his arms away. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"I'm sorry Kari! I guess I could've been a little more sensitive, but don't you think your getting a little over emotional about this?"

"OVER EMOTIONAL?!!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO HEARTLESS?! WELL, YOU CAN JUST GO TO HELL TAKERU!"

"Kari wait!" TK grabbed her by the shoulders as she turned to run, and pulled her back towards him. 

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" 

"Kari please tell me...*WHACK!*" Kari whirled around and nailed TK with a right hand, directly underneath his left eye. It wasn't just a glancing blow either, it completely laid him out! He sat up from the ground moaning, and that couldn't completely drown out the sounds of the chirping birds flying around his head. He placed his hand underneath his eye, which stung like the dickens, and looked around for Kari who was no where in sight. The only trace of her were the sounds of distant sobbing. "What did I do?!"

"This isn't good," Gatomon groaned. Pattamon sat next to her with his mouth hanging open, and his ears extend out on the side of his head.

"Wha.. What?! What went wrong?! They were supposed to be happy!" Pattamon whined, recovering from his entail state of shock. 

"I'm not sure. Kari didn't go over her plan with me in detail, but I'm pretty sure punching out TK wasn't part of it. I think it might have something to do with TK throwing her letter away. That's when Kari got upset."

"But I don't understand! Why would TK do that?!" Without thinking straight, and much to Gatoman's dismay, Pattamon took off.

"Pattamon wait!" Gatomon called after him. "Come back here before someone sees you!"

Pattamon ignored her, and flew downward towards the trashcan TK had thrown Kari's letter in. He flew inside, and quickly located the item. He darted back out, and flew back up to Gatomon who was still waiting in the tree.

"What in the world did you do that for?!" she scolded. "What if someone saw you?!"

"I'm sorry, but I had to!" he defended himself. "I know something isn't right here. TK told me that he loved Kari, and I know he wouldn't do anything to make her cry like that on purpose! I need to go talk to him, and find out what happened."

"Good idea," Gatomon agreed. "In the meantime I want to see if Kari's okay." The two Digimon nodded at each other, and went off on their separate ways.

********

Tai walked through the door to the Kamiya apartment, with an uncanny resemblance to a zombie. The pain still lingered on his face from where Sora had slapped him, not physically, but the emotional aspect of it all. He took a seat on the couch, and decided to examine the wall. He didn't even noticed his parents weren't home, but then again he wasn't to alert to anything at that moment. He sat there for a good ten minutes, before the sobbing image of his sister came bolting through the front and into their bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Temporarily forgetting his own problems, he sat up and went to check on Kari.

"Kari," Tai said, as he slowly opened the door. He found his sister face down on his bed, crying up a river of tears into her pillow. He didn't have to wonder what was wrong, he just had no way of knowing the details yet. He walked up, and placed his hand on her back. Kari looked up at her brother through tear strained eyes, and he smiled warmly at her. Kari shot up off the bed, and embraced Tai in a massive bear hug. Tai sat down on the edge of her bed, and let his baby sister cry her heart out onto his chest. He listened in disgust as Kari retold her entire heart wrenching story. All of a sudden, all of Tai's problems didn't seem to matter to him anymore.

"I can't believe he did that to you! I'm going to kill that little rat!" Tai ranted, as he stood up. His eyes widen as Kari released another loud whine, and tightened her grip around his waist.

"Please don't leave me right now Tai," she begged.

"Don't worry, I won't" Tai assured her, as he sat back down.

Tai sat there and held her for a short time, without exchanging a word. A good twenty minutes went by before Kari finally felt like speaking up. "So, how did things go with you and Sora? Maybe that'll cheer me up a bit."

"Somehow I doubt that," Tai mumbled.

Kari understood exactly what he meant. "You too huh? Why don't you tell me what happened anyway? I'd really like to know."

"If you insist. It wasn't exactly the way I pictured it. I told her it was me, she slapped me in the face, told me I make her sick, and ran away crying. Other than that, everything was perfect."

"Why did she do that?" Kari asked, knowing there had to be more to it than that. 

"I'm not sure. For some reason she thought it was all a joke."

They both squeezed each other a little tighter, helping to ease each other's pain. Kari stopped crying, sending what little was left of her heart at the moment to her brother. "I'm sure it's all big misunderstanding Tai. If you talk to her and explain, I'm sure she'll understand."

"You may be right." Tai smiled to please his sister, but didn't really believe it in his own heart. He tilted his head up, as he heard the door squeak open a little farther, and watched Gatomon enter the room. She took one look at Kari, and she broke down at the sight of the blubbering mess in front of her.

"Kari!" Kari released her grip on Tai, and caught Gatomon as she jumped into her lap. "Is it that bad?"

"I'll be okay," she sniffled, finding comfort in the worry and compassion lighting up her Digimon's eyes. "I feel a lot better than I did before."

"Gatomon, please stay here with Kari for a few minutes," he requested, rising to his feet. "I have to make a phone call. Maybe I can fix something that went horribly wrong."

"I wasn't going to leave her either way," Gatomon replied. 

Kari smiled, knowing what her brother meant. "Go do it Tai. I'm sure everything will work out."

"I hope so," he sighed. "Nothing's seemed to go right so far."

********

Sora huddled against the wall of her room, crying on and off for the last hour or so. She tried desperately to swim her way out of the raging whirlpool of complex emotions threatening to pull her under, slowly sucking up all of her oxygen. She inhaled deeply, for what seemed like the twentieth time, trying to suck in air through her tears, and it wasn't helping the reality of it all. It wasn't just what she thought Tai had done to her that was tormenting her, but the idea of what she might have done to him could have caused her whole world to crash down on her. 

"What if he really did mean it?" she sobbed to herself. "And... And I just went and screwed everything up. The letters seemed so sincere...*sniff* I know he can be an arrogant jerk sometimes, but he's not that heartless... *sniff* I know him to well to think that... My God, what must he think right now?! *hard breath* I slapped him in the face, and told him he made me sick... *sniff* He may never talk to me again after that!"

Sora lifted her head up off her knees, and choked on some of her tears. She tried to focus her eyes on the wall in front of her, but everything was a big blur. "Maybe I should call... NO! *sniff* What if it was all a joke? He could laugh at me again, and break my heart all over again. *cough* Oh... What am I going to do? Why did you have to do this to me Taichi? We were doing fine just being friends..."

Sora buried her face back in her knees, when the ringing of the phone startled her. She ignored it, and allowed it to ring until the answering machine answered for her. She may never know why she was so surprised by whose voice came over the speaker.

"I know your there Sora," she heard Tai's voice say. Stunned, all she could do was sit still and listen. "I know you hide in your room and sulk whenever you're upset. I've spent too many nights there with you crying on my shoulder not to know that. I guess since your not answering means you don't want to talk to me. I'm not sure what I did to upset you so much, but whatever it is I'm sorry. I want you to know that none of this was a joke! I don't know what I did to make you think that, but I've meant every word you've read. I've felt this way as long as I can remember. I didn't want to risk losing a friend over it, but I couldn't help thinking I could have had so much more. I guess I was being selfish, but... Please tell me were still friends Sora. Oh well... I guess that's all I have to say. If you still have the letter, you might want to try reading it. I'll be waiting. Either way you chose, at least I'll have my answer. Good-bye Sora."

For whatever reason, Sora picked that moment to sprint towards the phone. When she picked it up, of course, she heard nothing but the dial tone. She sighed, and hung it up. She thought it over for a brief moment, and took the envelope out of her dresser, where she had left it earlier. She opened it, and found a much shorter letter and it went straight to the point.

"Yeah, It's me. Are you surprised? You don't have to answer a straight yes or no. If yes then meet me at our spot later tonight. Maybe I can make some of your dreams come true? If you're there, I know you'll be fulfilling the dearest of mine. Love, Tai?..." 

*Kamiya Apartment*

"I guess she isn't talking to me," Tai sighed, as he hung up the phone. His face quickly changed from depressed to angry. "First thing's first though! I'm going to have to deal with Mr. Takashi. Nobody treats my baby sister like that!"

"Before you commit to over reacting, I think you better get your facts straight first," Gatoman's voice chimed in from behind him. "I don't think things are exactly what they seem?"

"What do you mean?" Tai asked, slightly annoyed.

"First of all I can't see TK doing anything to hurt Kari, and if you'd calm down and think for a second I'm sure you'll realize that too." Tai knew she had a point, and calmed down a bit as a result. "Second, Pattamon told me himself that TK told him that he loved Kari."

"Pattamon told you?" he asked, his eyebrow rising. "He is TK's Digimon you know! Are you sure you can trust what he says?"

"With my life!" Gatomon snarled at his mere suggestion that Pattamon might've lied to her.

Tai looked down in her eyes, and saw she was dead serious. "Have you told Kari about this?"

"I think that's better left up to someone else." Tai didn't even have to ask who someone else was. "I've got to get back to Kari. I told her I needed to talk to you privately for a minute. I don't think she really wants to be alone right now."

"I understand. You take good of Kari for me," Tai smiled. "Hopefully TK will come to his senses..., and somebody else for that matter. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a tree to climb."

"A tree to climb?" Gatomon questioned, watching Tai walk out the front door. She shrugged her shoulders, and ran back into the bedroom were Kari was waiting for her.

********

"I don't get it! What did I do?!" TK kicked at some gravel beneath his feet. He hated seeing Kari cry, and it nearly killed him to think he was the reason she was. He just couldn't understand why. Maybe because he wasn't beings sensitive to Casey's feelings? She obviously put a lot of heart into it, and he should've been more respectful. Kari was a very caring person, but her reaction was kind of ridiculous. Wasn't it? Kari and Casey didn't even get along that well, but then again Kari didn't even know it was Casey writing him the letters. TK hadn't gotten a chance to tell her before she flipped out. TK had never seen her that mad before, at least not at him. "I wonder if she'll even talk to me again."

TK wondered why he had to deal with things like love and girls. He'd much rather be in the digital world, facing evil digi-monsters than going up against this. They were far less scary, and not nearly as dangerous. 

He was rounding the corner, when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He turned around just to get run into by the boy, and slammed hard up against the wall of the building behind him. TK coughed, and looked up to see Davis glaring at him with nothing but bad intentions.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Davis screamed, as he grabbed the collar of his shirt. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO KARI?!"

TK slapped Davis's arm away. "What are your talking about Davis?!"

"You know what I'm talking about TK!" Davis was absolutely fuming. "I know what you did! Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"How did you?!... Never mind that! Just what did I do to Kari?!"

"STOP PLAYING DUMB! The only reason I don't put your lights out right now, is because I think Kari put you through enough already," he sneered, as he pointed at TK's left cheek. A small but nasty looking bruise had developed rather quickly right under TK's left eye, from where Kari had popped him.

TK put his hand to his cheek. "I know I upset Kari, but I don't know how. All I did was throw away Casey's letter. I have no idea why she got so upset over it."

Davis looked confused. "Casey's letter? What are you talking about?!"

"Casey's been harassing for the past few weeks now, and lately she's been writing me these love letters," TK informed him. "I know it was her, because I caught her sliding one under my door yesterday afternoon."

"What?!" Davis laughed, and shook his head. "You're stupider that I thought! Casey hasn't been writing you those letters! Kari has!"

"How do you know that?!"

Davis hung his head, looking guilty. "Okay, I'll level with you. Kari has been writing you those love notes. Casey found out, and decided she was going to steal one of them and take credit for it because she wanted to get to you. She read one yesterday, and afterward she decided she couldn't go through with it and backed off. You must've caught Casey as she was leaving yesterday."

"Are you serious?..." TK stuttered. "Kari really has been writing these?"

"Are you really that blind," Davis smirked. "She really cares about you TK. I've seen it since the day I met you, and it's been driving me crazy! I guess that's the only way she could manage to tell you?"

"Why are you telling me this Davis?" TK asked suspiciously. "If Kari hates me then that would be the perfect opportunity for you to move in!"

"The funny thing is, is that's what I originally had planned," Davis admitted. "But I have to face the facts. Kari's never going to love me, and I want her to be happy. I've always known that, I've just had a hard time admitting and dealing with it. The difference now is I think I'm finally ready to move on."

"You really mean all this don't you Davis?"

Davis nodded his head slowly. "If you don't believe me, than ask Pattamon. He knows all about it."

TK's eyes widen. "Okay, I will..."

"You better hurry up, and fix things before it's too late. You'd be a fool to let the best thing you'll ever find in your life slip away from you. You don't know how lucky you are to be destined to be with her you know?"

"Destined?" TK asked, surprised by his chose of words. "What makes you think that?"

"Get a clue TK," Davis laughed. "Angewomon, Angemon? From what I've heard, everything you two have done together since you were eight has revolved around each other in someway. You guys give new meaning to the word digi-destined!"

"Thanks Davis." TK had to smile. This was the absolute last person he ever expected to be pushing him towards Kari! 

"Good luck TK. Now, what are you wasting time talking to me for?! GO!"

"I'm gone." TK stopped, and turned back to Davis. "Hey Davis, do you realize you just pronounced my name correctly four times in a row?"

"I did? I'm sorry TE, I won't do it again," he joked.

"No, no that's fine!" TK replied, as he turned towards home.

"Oh, and TK," he called, causing TK to turned his head. He was already half way down the street.

"What?"

"Don't worry about Casey. I don't think she'll be bothering you much anymore."

"What makes you say that?" TK wondered.

"You'll find out soon enough," Davis grinned, and pointed into the distance. "NOW GO!"

"I'm going! Thank you Davis!"

********

TK ran the rest of the way home. A nagging voice in his mind was still telling him he couldn't believe a word Davis said, but he was still inclined to believe him. He wanted to believe him, at least that Kari had been writing the letters anyway. The next thing he had to do, was ask Pattamon what hand he had in all of this. 

"Pattamon!" he called, as he rushed through the door. "Are you home! I still think your little thing with Gatoman's cute, but I really need to talk to you?"

"I'm here TK!" the Digimon called, as he flew out of the bedroom. He landed on the kitchen counter, facing TK. "I've been waiting for you."

"You've been waiting for me?"

"Yes," he said calmly. "I saw what happen between you and Kari. Gatomon and I were watching from the trees. Now, if don't mind my asking?" Pattamon took a deep breath, and all of a sudden, his eyes sunk in evilly. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

TK nearly fell over from Pattamon's surprising lungpower. "I'm not sure what I did to her, but answer me one thing Pattamon. Do you know if Kari wrote me those love letters?" 

Pattamon looked at him like he was crazy. "You haven't figured that out yet?! Of course she did! Now why did you throw her letter away with her standing right there watching?!"

"I thought they were from Casey! I was upset because I didn't think they were from Kari!"

"Casey?! No, No! I knew something was wrong! I knew you wouldn't intentionally hurt Kari like that!"

"So, Kari really did..." With that thought finally entrenching itself into his mind, for a brief moment TK forgot to breathe. It wasn't much longer when the reality of what he had done ripped his heart to shreds. His expression melted, and his heart took a seat next to his kidneys. "Oh my God, what did I do?! I threw it in the garbage, with her standing right there watching me!"

"Gatomon said she worked really hard on it. She was up half the night last night finishing it up. She was really looking forward to seeing how you'd react..." he added, ripping TK's heart into even smaller pieces.

"And I spit on all of it! Now wonder she got so upset! I'm so stupid!" he scolded himself, trying to pull his hat down over his head. "That's why she was so interested in it... She was trying to hint to me it was her the entire time, and it went completely over my head! What I did must've crushed her... What did I do, What did I do?!" 

  
TK fell back into a chair at the kitchen table, and buried his face in his hands. Pattamon flapped over to him, and landed on the table. "Would you like to read her letter now?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?! I threw it in the trash like an idiot remember?!"

Without saying a word, Pattamon flew over to the counter, and picked up a crumpled up ball of paper. He flew back over to TK, and dropped the ball in front of his face. TK eyed him curiously, and then the ball. 

"I picked it out of the trash after you two ran off," he explained, as he planted his butt down on the table. "I don't know much about this human romance stuff, but I'd have to say you screwed up big time."

TK didn't need a hint at what to do next. He unfolded the ball, and found Kari's last letter inside. He read through, and more than once he was almost reduced to tears. He didn't think any human being could possibly describe what he read, but somehow she obviously managed. It wasn't until he read the last few lines out loud to himself, that finally reduced him to a blubbering mess. The clue Kari had left that even he couldn't overlook, and may possibly be the only person to completely understand.

"I look forward to the day hope and light intertwine. I've always heard that hope and light go hand and hand with each other. One can't be complete without the other. This may sound crazy, but I like to think it's the same for us. At the very least, please tell me we'll be friends forever. My heart's in your hands now. You have to decided what you'll do with it now... Love... Kari..." 

A single tear landed next to Kari's name, only preceding the storm that began raining down his cheeks. He tried to wipe his eyes clean with the sleeve of his shirt, when something occurred to him. He sprinted to his room, and ransacked his dresser drawers until he located the rest of Kari's letters. He sat on the bed, and scanned through the first letter, until he found the line he was looking, and read it aloud to himself. "There's a *light* that shines in your eyes that's called out to me from the first day I ever saw you that still makes my heart melt, and gives me *hope* when I feel I'm at my worst."

He set the first letter gently to the side, and went through the next one. "Waiting and *hoping* that one day I can shine a *light* to your heart that will bring you to me." 

It was just as he thought. He tossed the letter aside, and picked up the last one. "Whenever I failed to see the *light* through the darkness, you could bring a little *hope* into my life every time..."

It was right there in front of his face in plain Japanese. In every single letter she had made some kind of reference to both hope and light, the two aurora's of the spirit they represented. She had been hinting to him from the start, and he never once caught on. 

"How can I be so blind?!" He sobbed hard into his arm. "I can't stand hurting her... She may never even talk to me again after what I did to her!"

"There's only one way to find out." 

TK had no idea how long Pattamon had been there. "I doubt she'd want anything to do with me right now..."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Pattamon snapped. "That's half the reason this all happened in the first place!"

"Your right Pattamon," TK said, as he bolted to his feet. "To think I almost didn't believe Davis. I wonder how he found out about his anyway?"

"I told him," Pattamon announced unexpectedly. 

"You did?" he asked, his face still red and wet from crying. "Why did you do that?!"

"Because I knew if anybody could knock some sense into you it would be Davis."

TK stared him down for a moment, and then smiled. "When did you become so evil? What happened to the sweet adorable flying pork roast I knew and loved?"

"I fell for a Gatomon?" he smirked.

TK smiled back, before growing serious. "You're right though... I have spent too much time feeling sorry for myself. I have to fix this... For Kari's sake, even if I can't forgive myself. She's didn't deserve what I did to her..." By now TK was crying again, but this time he didn't curl up and freeze. He gritted his teeth before jumping to his feet, and bolting out of his room and out of the apartment. Pattamon followed him as far as the door, which TK hadn't bothered to close.

"Good luck TK, and don't worry. Everything will work out. You'll see."

********

"There sure are a lot of stars out tonight," Tai said to himself, looking up at the sky from his perch in a tree near a small park. This was one of his favorite spots in the whole world. He had been climbing this tree since he was four years old. It seemed like such a monumental task back then, but now that he was older he realized how small it actually was. He couldn't have been much more than fifteen feet off the ground, and he wasn't sure how the rather thin branches were even supporting his weight. He hadn't been up there in years, but it was still very important to him. He often called it, their spot, meaning his and Sora's. They use to come to this spot all the time. It's where they'd come to talk when something was on their minds, were Tai would try to comfort Sora after one of her many fights with her mother when she was younger, or just to star gaze like he was doing now. When ever the other ran off to be alone because they were upset, afraid, just to think ,or anything else it was always a sure bet they'd fine the other sitting up in that tree. They never told anyone else about it. Only they knew they came here. It was up in that tree a couple years ago that marked the first time Tai looked at Sora, with the moonlight shining of her face, and said Oh my God!... "I don't see how Sora can pick out all these constellations. I can't even make out one of them! It would help if the stupid things looked like what they're supposed to!"

Sora walked towards the tree, when she heard a voice coming from the top of it. It didn't take her long to distinguish whose voice it was. After all she thought that voice was one of the sweetest sounds she could hear, even if complete rubbish did come out of it half the time.

"I'll wait for you all night if I have too... Please don't give up on me yet Sora..."

"Never happen."

Tai came dangerously close to having a heart attack. He looked to his left, and found Sora sitting next to him. She was smiling weakly, and he could still tell she'd been crying. It tore his heart apart to see the puffy wetness clouding up those beautiful reddish eyes. "Sora?! You came..."

"Of course I did," she whispered weakly. "I had to know..."

"Know what?" Tai asked, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Did... Did you really mean it?" she sniffed, beginning to tear up again. "This whole thing wasn't a joke?"

"Of course not!" Tai insisted. "I've meant every single word of it!"

"Then why did you laugh at me?!" Sora hung her head off to the side, failing to fight back her tears this time.

It took Tai a moment to understand what she meant. He gently took her hand in his, and put his free hand underneath her chin, turning her face to face his. She didn't fight him, but she kept her eyes shut too afraid to look at him. "Sora you have it all wrong. I wasn't laughing at you. I tried to stand in the background and watch you while you got my letters, because I wanted to see what your reaction would be. I watched you read them, and saw the way you'd smile and that expression on your face like you were really into it. It made me happier than anything to think you were enjoying something I had written and worked so hard on, and I almost couldn't control it at times. You were wondering who was writing the letters, and I was standing in front of you the whole time and you didn't even know it! I couldn't help laughing about it, I know I shouldn't of now. I never meant for you to think I was making fun of you. I'd never do that to you. I care for you too much, and I rather die than do anything to hurt you on purpose."

Sora opened her eyes, which seemed to have gained some sparkle to them. "Re...Really?"

"With all my heart."

She looked up into those chocolate brown heart breakers that she still trusted with her life, and everything else seemed to fade away. It wasn't the first time, and she knew it wasn't going to be the last. "Why didn't you ever tell me before?" 

"I'm not even sure anymore," Tai said. "I didn't know how you felt about me, and I wasn't going to risk losing my best friend over it. It doesn't really matter anymore. The point is I should've told you a long time ago, instead of letting it drag on this long. If I had then you wouldn't of had to go through what you did today. It's over now, and I can't go back and change what's already been done. I love you. I couldn't say that to your face, so I said it in those letters instead."

"They were beautiful you know," she complemented, managing a weak smile. "You really mean to tell me you wrote them all by yourself?"

Tai smiled widely. "You'd be surprised what you can do with the right inspiration, and I felt like Shakespeare every time I thought of you. Now if you don't mind I'd like to ask a couple questions of my own. Did you really mean it when you said you hoped I was writing the letters?"

"It scared me to death to think it might be anyone else." Sora smiled, and this time put her free hand to his face, surprising the crap out of Tai. "I've been dreaming of you saying something like that to me for the longest time now."

Tai's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?!... You never said anything..."

"I know. Probably for a lot of the same reasons you didn't," she said, in a low whisper. "Also, I haven't been all to sure how I felt up until right now. It felt like love, but I wasn't completely sure. After all, you were my best friend. You were also arrogant, self-centered, loud, and obnoxious. Not to mention I never thought you'd be the romantic type. Your no where near the type of guy I pictured myself falling for."

"Pardon me Sora, but your kind of killing the mood for me here," he joked, frowning slightly.

"Then let me make it up to you..."

What Sora did next was the last thing Tai had expected her to do, at least not that soon. She balanced her hands on his shoulders, and touched his lips with hers, just grazing them at first before locking in all the way. It took Tai ten full seconds to fully realize this was really happening. He wrapped his right arm, the only one he could move at the moment, and held her there in what felt like complete bliss. He felt an incredible surge through his body, that seemed to summon everything he'd been feeling for her and channeled every bit of it through one simple peck on the lips. Simple to anyone else, but the only thing in the world that mattered to them at that moment. They got completely lost in the moment, and forgot where they were. Sora leaned in a little closer, forcing Tai back a bit, but there was a problem with that. They didn't have much room up there to sit as it was, and Tai well...

"SORA! WHOA, WHOA! AHHH!" Tai yelped, as he waved his arms in the air in an attempt to keep his balance. Of course it didn't work, and he fell out of the tree, plummeting to the ground. 

"TAI!" She cringed when she heard him clunk against the ground. "MY GOD! TAI, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"I'm fine," he moaned, laying on his back with his limbs spread out. "First you slap me, then you knock me out of the tree. You know if you're not careful, you're going to kill me Sora. Not that I mind after that. I'd definitely die with a smile on my face."

Sora smiled, but she was still concerned. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to! Can you get up? Are you hurt?"

"No... And I'm not sure. I can't feel anything below my lips." That was actually true. His body went almost completely numb after Sora had kissed him.

"I'm coming down!" she announced, as she stared her way down. She hoped to the ground, and ran over to Tai who had just pushed himself up to a sitting position. He clutched his forehead with his right hand, as Sora knelt down beside him. She clasped her hands around his free hand in a caring and gentle way that had become second nature to her. "How do you feel? You don't think you've broken anything do you?"

"I don't think so... I'm still a little numb..." Sora fixed that with another fiery kiss to the lips. It had the same effect a pair of jumper cables had on a car, causing him to bounce back to his feet.

"You seem fine to me!" Sora giggled.

"Yeah... Sora..." Tai wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer to him. She stared into her deep amber-shaded eyes that had begun tearing up again, but for a much different reason. 

"So you really wrote those letters huh?" she asked, as she pushed away a strain of his hair that was blocking her view of his eyes. "I still can't believe that kind of emotion could come out of you. What you wrote was so passionate and beautiful... I can't see how you did it."

"It was easy. I wrote what I felt in my heart, to the best of my ability anyway. Words alone couldn't possibly sum up how I feel you. This turned out a lot better than it looked like it was going to this afternoon. I hope Kari's luck improves like mine did."

"Kari? What does she have to do with this?"

"What? Oh... We were kind of in on this together," he admitted. "We made a deal that if told you how I felt then..."

"She'd tell TK how she felt," she finished for him. 

"How did you know that?!"

"Come on Tai!" she giggled. "I am the bearer of the Crest of Love you know. It's my job to know these kind of things. I've seen the way they look at each other, and they've been doing since they were eight. I'm not even sure if they even realize it."

Tai looked at her questioningly. "If that's true Mrs. Crest of Love bearer, then how come you couldn't tell how I felt about you?"

"Have you ever heard that expression that a psychic can't predict their own future? I'd wager it somewhere around those lines." Her smile faded into a look of concern. "Now, what did you mean when you said you hoped Kari was having better luck?"

Tai's expression dimmed. "It's a long story. Let's just say they had a falling out. Gatomon thinks it was all a big misunderstanding, so I'm hoping things will work themselves out." Tai smiled again. "I'll have to remember to thank her. If she hadn't of talked me out of hunting down TK, I might not have come here tonight, and this is definitely something I didn't want to miss."

"Speaking of things you don't want to miss... If something does happen between Kari and TK tonight, then that's something I want to see! Why don't we go check things out?"

"If you want," he said, sounding unsure. "There's a good chance we'll just find her at our place still crying her eyes out though."

"That's okay. If that's the case then maybe I can talk to her," she suggested. 

"Sound's good, let's go." Tai turned to go, but Sora grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back towards her.

"First thing's first though."

"What?"

"You keep breaking the kiss before I can finish." Before Tai could answer, Sora had already pressed her lips to his. They stood there and held each other there for what must have been... Oh what does it matter?! Let's just say they broke apart some time later.

"Oh great," Tai whined. "Now I can't feel my legs again!"

"Oh Tai!"

********

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" TK had been chanting that to himself ever since he left his apartment. He was less than a minute away from where the Kamiya's lived, but it still seemed miles away. He couldn't get there soon enough, but a part of him was still dreading his arrival. The one thing he knew was he had to try to fix this somehow. He had to tell her what he did wrong, whether she chose to believe him or not. He'd ran the entire way there, barely avoiding running into countless people, and nearly caused two separate traffic accidents. Finally, he stopped in front of the apartment complex where Kari lived. He was about to run inside when he noticed Kari was outside, seated at a bench around the side of the complex. 

"Kari!" he gasped, his face bright red from all the running. He clutched his knees, and coughed hard struggling for every atom of oxygen he could suck in. "I... I..."

"TK?" she winced, her eyes still bloodshot and wet. She turned her head away from him, trying to fight off bursting into tears once again.

"Please.... Please listen... Kari..." he gasped, in-between breaths. "I need... to talk to you..."

"I have nothing to say to you TK. Just leave me alone!"

"Please just listen to me Kari!" He coughed loudly, from saying that to quickly. "Give me a second... to explain."

"GO AWAY!" A few rebellious tears, escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She stood up off the bench and stared walking away "I don't want to talk to you!"

"I didn't know you wrote the letters!" His breathing had begun to slow down to a normal rate. "I thought they were from Casey!"

"And how would you know that now!" She sniffed.

"Pattamon told me!" he answered almost immediately. "I swear I didn't know! I know it was stupid of me not to pick up on your hints, but I never thought you felt that way about me! You know I'd never to anything to hurt you on purpose. I was upset because I thought you weren't writing the letters. I wanted it to be you, but I didn't think it was possible..."

Kari stopped dead in her tracks, and stared back at him. TK didn't move a muscle, standing there looking like a man about to be carted off to the gallows. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do?!" TK walked up to her, and seized the sides of her arms gently in his hands. "I told you I cared about you before, and it wasn't just stuff! I didn't tell you at the time, because I never saw you look at me in anyway other than a friend. You're the best thing that's ever come into my life. I wasn't willing to lose you over anything, and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose you over something so stupid that I couldn't read between the lines! I'd never want to hurt you in any way ever, and it breaks my heart to see you cry. I had no idea why you ran away crying this afternoon, and it almost killed me when I found out what I did. I'm so, so sorry Kari. Please forgive Kari! Please! I'll get down on my knees if you want me to, just tell me and I'll do it!"

"I... I always looked at you that way TK. You just never noticed..." Kari's eyes watered, right before the gush of tears that came flowing out of them. She fell forward in TK's arms, and wrapped hers around his waist, crying into his chest. TK returned the embrace, assuming his apology was accepted. 

"I'm sorry Kari," he whispered, holding her a little tighter. "I'm so sorry..."

Kari sobbed into his chest, soaking his T-shirt. Part of her really wanted to stay angry with him, but she found it impossible. She believed him. She could feel it in his arms from the way he held her. They felt so gentle and caring, like they'd never would really do anything to hurt her. She felt safe and warm there, and had no considerable desire to leave that place anytime soon. On the other hand, she couldn't bring herself to be happy either. There where so many mixed emotions circling through her, clouding both her heart and mind, leaving her with no other option but to cry it all out. She forced her head upward to look into his face, in particular his eyes. Deep pools of blue made puffy and red, telling Kari he had obviously been doing some crying of his own. So loving and sincere, she completely broke down under their gaze. They had never lied to her before, and she couldn't see why they would start now.

"Oh no... Your eye!" Kari cried, as she touched her fingertips to the bruise she had left underneath TK's eye.

"Yeah,... You got me pretty good," TK laughed.

"Your beautiful eyes... I ruined them!" Kari lost it again, sobbing even worse then she had any time before that night. She ripped herself from his arms, and ran away from him as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Kari wait!" he called, as he went after her. "Aw... I don't want to run again!"

Kari kept running. She didn't know how far she ran or how long, but she stopped realizing she didn't know where she was. It was dark, and it had suddenly gotten very cold. She wrapped her arms around herself, and slowly crept forward searching for any other signs of life. She wished she was back in TK's arms again where she felt safe. Why did she ever leave anyway? She knew she couldn't go back, she didn't deserve to. Her head turned back, as she heard someone calling her name. All she could see was a tall, dark image approaching her in the darkness.

"Kari!" TK gasped, appearing behind her. Kari tried to ignore him, and stood there with her back to him staring at the ground. "Kari, what's wrong? Why did you run away?"

"I don't know...TK..."

"What's the matter? Why won't you look at me?" He reached out for her, but Kari felt him coming and moved forward. 

"I can't!" she sobbed. "I don't deserve to. I hurt you..."

"Kari, that was nothing compared to what you pushing yourself away will do to me." He wrapped his arms around her waist, covering her arms with his making it virtually impossible for her to wiggle away from him this time. Kari didn't appear to struggle much anyway. "We both hurt each other. We got over emotional, and we both over reacted. This is much more my fault than yours. I love you too Kari. I should've told you how I felt a long time ago, and we could've avoided this entire situation. At least you finally brought up the courage to tell me. I had no intentions of doing it anytime soon, if you hadn't of pushed it out of me. We broke each other's hearts tonight, and now let's pick up the pieces and put them back together again together. 

Kari's face lit up. "But... But I never told you I loved you..."

"You just did," he said, spinning her around so she was facing him. "And you have many times over the past couple days. Now that I know it was you anyway."

TK caressed Kari's face with his hand. All she could do was stare at him, lost for what to say. "TK... I don't know... All of this is happening so suddenly!"

"I understand completely. Do you want to go for a walk or something, and give things time to settle in?"

"Sounds good to me," Kari agreed. "You'll stay with me right?"

"Of course I will." TK held out his hand for her, which she didn't hesitate to accept. She knew this wasn't a dream, and he wasn't going to dissapear on her. She held on to his hand a little tighter than she normally would, just in case.

********

"I'm so sorry Casey! It was an accident, I swear it!" Davis pleaded, but Casey didn't appear to be in a forgiving mood at the moment.

"I thought I'd made it clear to you, NO FOOD!" 

"It was just a little bucket of popcorn! Movies just aren't the same without it..."

"And somehow you still managed to drop it on my head!" Casey ran her hand through her hair, jarring lose a few more stray crumbs.

"Well, look on the bright side," Davis snickered. "If you ever need salt, all you have to do is shake it out of your hair!"

Casey glanced at him evilly at first, but then smiled. "Your lucky you're cute when you're trying to be funny."

"What do you mean trying to be?! Huh..." Davis was distracted when he spotted a familiar couple walking hand in hand, not to far ahead of them.

"Is that who I think it is?" Casey asked.

"TK and Kari?" Davis replied. It still hurt him to see them together like that, but not nearly as badly as it might have only days before. "I guess I did get through to him a little bit... Kind of sort of."

Casey smiled faintly, feeling almost identical emotions to Davis. "Did you ever think you'd actually be one of the causes of this before today?"

"No, but that's okay," he said, as he slowly turned his head towards Casey. "I think I may have found something better. For me anyway."

Casey's face exploded every shade of red known to man, and she smiled shyly. "We'll see about that... Hey, do you want to follow them, and see what their up to?"

"What? I don't know... Why?"

"Come on, you can't tell me your not at least a little curious?! Besides, what better do we have to do right now anyway?"

"Good point. Let's go!"

Matt was on his way home from band practice, and he happened to run into Izzie along the way. They were in the middle of a conversation on voice pitches and sound frequencies, Matt had stopped listening since he had no clue what in the world Izzie was going on about, when Matt noticed his younger brother walking with Kari across the street from them. He didn't pay much special attention to them at first, until he noticed something was very different.

"Wait a second?! Are they holding hands?!" Matt asked excitedly, grinning like a madman. He still had his guitar case riding on his back. 

"It definitely looks like it from our vantagepoint," Izzie replied, though Matt wasn't really asking him. They didn't know it was more of an attempt to comfort the other, than a romantic act, but it was with the same feeling none the less.

"I can't believe it!" Matt laughed. "I wonder how long this has been going on? Tai's going to have a fit when he finds out!"

"It's kind of strange though?"

"Why is it strange Izzie?"

Izzie paused a moment apparently thinking things over. "Well, Casey told me she was going out on a date tonight. She's had her sights set on TK for a while now, so I assumed she meant with him. TK even came to me complaining about her this morning, and I told him he might consider giving her a chance."

"Well you obviously assumed wrong," Matt snapped.

"It looks that way... I wonder what Casey's doing then?" Little did Izzie know that in just a few seconds he would become a firm believer in that old expression, some questions are better left unanswered.

"Wondering what about me?" Casey asked, startling her adoptive cousin. 

Izzie regained his composure, and turned to face Casey who had suddenly appeared behind him. "Casey you surprised me! I thought you were out on a date tonight?"

"I am," Casey said cheerfully. 

"With who..." Izzie stopped as he watched Davis walk up beside her. Casey looked up at him and smiled.

Davis smirked, and waved to the two older teenagers. "Hey Izzie! Matt. What's up?!"

Izzie's jaw nearly hit the pavement. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"What was that?" TK asked, as he looked behind him.

"It kind of sounds like Izzie screaming," Kari answered.

"Strange. Not to long ago I thought I saw Casey and Davis."

"Those two have been spending a lot of time together lately," Kari noticed. "I wonder if anything's going on?"

"Wouldn't that be great! Then maybe they really will leave us alone!" TK laughed, as he looked down at Kari who giggled. She seemed to have eased up a lot in the past hour or so. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I think I'm okay now."

"You can let go of my hand now if you want to?"

"That's okay." Kari tightened her grip, as if to tell him he better not dare let go. "Let's just keep moving for now, okay?"

It wasn't much longer before they found themselves back in the little park near the school. They were cutting through, when Kari stopped suddenly halting TK in his tracks at well. He looked at her with concern, but her look was much different than before. She was smiling staring up at the full moon, all signs of all the tears she had cried earlier gone from her lovely face.

"Something on your mind Kari?" he asked.

"I guess this is as good a time as any." She snapped around, and quickly locked her arms around TK's chest. "I just wanted to tell you to your face that I love you... And I do forgive you. Thank you for being you Takeru."

"I love you too...," he stammered, slightly in shock. He quickly recovered, and cuddled his arms around the small of her back. "Now there's some things I want to tell you Kari..."

"You have my undivided attention."

TK thought back to when he had read Kari's letters, trying his best to remember them word for word. He found them at the very least flattering at first, but now that he knew those words were straight from Kari's heart they meant so much more to him. Now that he thought about it clearly, she seemed to be repeating everything he had felt for her only through her own eyes. Though they both had a sinking feeling, and even felt several pairs of eyes with their gazes upon them, they ignored it all too wrapped up in this moment they had been waiting for for to long.

"Isn't it sweet Tai?" Sora asked him quietly. Tai had a look of mixed emotion on his face. He was happy for his sister, but something was bothering him. It hadn't been little more than an hour since their life-altering rendezvous in the tree, and only TK and Kari wandering into the park could divert their attention away form each other.

"Yeah its sweet, but TK's hands better not travel any closer to the border if he knows what's good for him."

On the other side of the park, another set of spies were enjoying the show... well sort of. Matt and company had tailed the two lovebirds, who were just learning how to fly, all the way to the park. They weren't doing all that great a job of hiding, but TK and Kari were too oblivious to anything but each other to notice them... with their eyes anyway. 

"Are they just going to stand there like that all night?" Davis whined, with his arms crossed against his chest.

"No one's twisting your arm to stay Davis," Matt barked, annoyed that Davis was diverting his attention from his brother. "If you guys are bored, then go off and do something else. I know this must be pretty difficult for you two anyway." He knew all about Casey's crush from the stories TK had told him.

Davis and Casey both took a good long look at TK and Kari together, and for the first time it became clear to them why they never had a shot to begin with. They snuck a quick peek at each other and smiled. 

"Not really," Davis coughed.

"I think we'll be fine," Casey added. 

Izzie hadn't removed his gaze from Davis and Casey, and he was still trying to roll his jaw up from the ground. The idea of his cousin and Davis together was definitely needing some getting use to. His attention was finally turned away from them, as he heard some rustling behind them. 

"Oh my! If they get anymore detailed their going to be arrested," a female voice said, causing everyone to turn around towards the voice. 

"Yolie, Cody! What are you guys doing here?" Matt asked.

"We ran into Pattamon, and he told us what was going on." Yolie replied happily. "There's no way we wanted to miss this!"

"This isn't going to take long is it?" Cody asked. "My mom's baking brownies this evening, and she'd be upset if I wasn't there to try some."

"Can I come?!" Izzie asked hopefully.

"I hope you know what a treasure you are," TK complimented Kari, as he played with her hair. "You've touched my heart in ways you couldn't even begin to imagine. There's something about you that has called out to me since the first day I ever saw you, child of light."

Kari giggled, realizing he was repeating what she had written in her letters in his own words. "What are you doing?"

TK ignored her question, and continued. "I guess you've never noticed, but there are times when I just couldn't resist staring at you. There were times I was afraid you caught me, but you'd just smile and look at me with those sparkling brown eyes. I'd find myself making any excuse I could just to be near you. Telling stupid wore out jokes, just because I love hearing your laugh. Remember all those times I accidentally bumped into you on the street or at school? Well, I have a confession to make. Not all of those were really accidents."

"Now that I think about it, that did seem to happen a little too often."

"I'm surprised you never noticed." TK wasn't near finished. "If there's one thing I hate its seeing tears in those beautiful eyes, and the only thing I hate more than that is knowing I caused them. I find too much comfort in your sweet, and loving nature to fear that I may have ruined it. There's been so many times were I felt like the world was against me and nobody cared, but all I had to do was think of you or be near you and everything seemed to get better. I was certain you never felt the same way..."

"Well, you were dead wrong." She looked up into his face, which was already gazing down upon her. Their faces were only inches apart. Her head started bobbing back and forth towards his face, almost like her lips were suddenly magnetized and were pulling themselves towards his. She fought back the almost irresistible urge, feeling it wasn't quite the right time yet. "Your being really sweet, but your only rewording what I wrote you in my letter's you know?"

TK's mind went numb, feeling Kari's sweet smelling breath gushing into his face. He feared he'd never have Kari's lips this close to his again, but he summoned up all the resolve he had and resisted the temptation. She was too vulnerable right then, and he wasn't about to take advantage of her. "I know Kari. The thing is those are also things I've been wanting to tell you forever. You just beat me to it."

Kari smiled contently, and rested her forehead against his chest. "Well if I hadn't then I would've had to wait forever for you to tell me."

"There is one thing you wrote that I'd have to agree with unconditionally."

"What's that?"

TK took her hand in his, and stared deep into her soft brown eyes. "I do think hope and light go hand and hand, and I know I can't be complete without you. Hope can live without light, but it's a meaningless and dark existence." 

"Without hope, life becomes pointless with nothing to live for," Kari countered, leaning in closer to TK. They danced around a bit, staring deep into each other's souls, both feeling something boiling up inside ready to explode. This went on for a while, until one of the spectators watching from afar couldn't take the suspense any longer.

"OH JUST KISS HER ALREADY YOU DIP!" a voice ripped through the air, sounding suspiciously like Davis.

TK and Kari jumped, pulling away from each other in doing so. They looked at each other and blushed. "I had a feeling we were being watched," TK said.

"The question isn't who, but how many," Kari joked.

"Do you want me to take you home now?"

"Not just yet," Kari said, a mischievous grin crossing her face. "Let's give them something to talk about first."

TK had a remote idea what she was about to do, but it still shocked him. He stood their dumbly, as Kari lunged into him, and planted her lips on his. They latched theirs arms around each other tightly, and pressed their lips deep into one another's savoring ever last second. Their bodies melted into each other's arms, and for that moment everything else they knew in the world disappeared.

*In the trees*

"So tell me, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Pattamon asked Gatomon.

"Well, they look content," Gatomon observed. "I've seen Kari's parents do this all the time, but never quite like this..." She looked at Pattamon with an adventurous glint in her eyes. "You want to try it?"

"Maybe later," Pattamon replied shyly. "I want to see what they do first!"

"Yeah."

*Back on the ground*

"The way she's going you'd think she'd lost something in their," Casey commented after watching them going at it for quite some time. Davis was standing next to her with his mouth hanging open.

"GO TK!" his brother encouraged loud enough for him to hear, but he was obviously too distracted to hear him. 

"How long can they keep this up?" Davis asked, snapping out of his entail state of shock. 

Of course Izzie had to take Davis's question seriously. "Well, the average human being can go approximately three minutes and forty-six seconds without oxygen before going brain dead, but at the rate their going they're going to blow that theory right out of the water!"

"I need to be getting home now," Cody announced. "They don't look like they're going to be finished any time soon."

"They are so dead!" Tai screeched, leaping up from his hiding spot behind some bushes. Sora was forced to throw her arms around his waist, and hold him back to keep him from charging out towards TK and his sister.

"Stop over reacting Tai!" she scolded. "They're just kissing! What exactly did you expect them to do?"

"They are not just kissing! I know I saw tongue in their!... I'd actually feel a little better if it was from TK and not Kari!"

Sora couldn't help but laugh. "Are you really upset over that, or are you just jealous?"

"What do you mean?!"

"Well, if you agree to leave them be for now, maybe you'll find out what it feels like..." As it goes without saying, Tai immediately shut up.

The youngsters didn't break apart 'til some time later. They finally parted, revealing a dreamy look on TK's face that might make one think he had just been to heaven and back. As far as he was concerned he was. His stupor was interrupted, as he felt a sudden draft against his head. He looked down at Kari, and noticed she was wearing his hat on her head. "You little sneak! I didn't even noticed you take my hat."

"If you want it back your gona have to earn it," she teased, and started backpedaling.

"Oh yeah?" TK took two quick steps forward, and grabbed her by the arms. He pulled her close, and kissed her again. He reclaimed his hat, and placed it back on his head all without parting from her gorgeous lips.

"That's enough you two! You've guys have had your fun!"

TK and Kari jumped away from each other, and whirled around to find Tai standing behind them. TK started searching his surroundings for a place to hide, while Kari stared at her brother and blushed. "Tai! We were just... I mean... We were..."

"Sorry guys, I couldn't hold him back any longer," Sora said, suddenly popping up behind Tai much to the relief of TK and Kari.

"I figured I better put a stop to this before you guys started shedding clothes." He ran his hand through his hair, and circled the two shaking teens. He wasn't really all that mad, but he enjoyed making them sweat. "One kiss is more than enough... especially when it lasts over ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes?" TK and Kari said simultaneously. Nether had a clue just how long they were lip locked.

"He's exaggerating a little," Sora informed them. "It was close though."

While TK was busy worrying over what Tai was about to do to him, he failed to notice his brother sneaking up from behind. Matt made his presence known with a playful punch to his siblings shoulder. "Way to go TK! I didn't think you had it in you!" 

"Matt! You're here too!"

"Yep. It looks to me like you've been learning from your big brother huh?"

"If you mean on how not to treat girls then yes," he joked, drawing another whack from Matt.

Tai couldn't help but smile, as he shook his head. "It's getting late guys, we better be headed home. I'm sure we've all got some interesting stories to tell on the way."

"I'm sure you do," Matt commented, taking a close look at Tai and Sora who seemed a little closer than normal that evening. "I'm sure I'll hear about them later. I don't want to get in the way, and I'm headed in the other direction anyway. Take care TK."

While TK saw his brother off, Kari and Tai looked at each other and smiled. Sora knew what it was for, but only they could truly understand it's meaning. They did walk together for a while, but nether party pried much into the other's business. They were often too preoccupied with one another to worry much about the other couple, with the exception of Tai who took several looks back at his sister and TK to make sure they weren't trying anything funny. Somewhere along the way, something Kari must've eaten for lunch turned out bad and tried to resurface. She was forced to spit, and her aim was a tad off, splashing all over Tai's shoe.

"Ewe Kari! Gross! Watch where you're aiming!"

"I'm sorry Tai. I wasn't trying to."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Tai laughed. "TK, clean your spit off of my shoe."

"Huh?!"

******** 

"Bye TK," Kari said, still refusing to let go of his hand. TK was standing on the other side of the door giggling.

"You know I won't be able to go anywhere if you don't let go."

Kari blushed, and let go just then realizing what she was doing. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he insisted. "So, I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow?"

"I don't care when, as long as you do. If I wake up in the morning, and find out this was all a dream your in big trouble mister!"

"Let's hope not!" He leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

"Is that it?" Kari asked, pretending to be disappointed.

"For now. That's just a start. We can finish it tomorrow night. It'll give us something to look forward to."

"Your weird."

"Kari, you haven't seen how wired I can be yet." He gave her another quick kiss, this time on her cheek before going on his way.

While Kari and TK were saying their good-byes, Tai was using this time to make a quick phone call. They had saw Sora home first since her apartment was along the way to the Kamiya's. He listened to the phone ring several times before Sora's mother finally answered.

"Hello, Ms. Takenouchi. Can I talk to Sora please?"

"Sure thing Tai." Ms. Takenouchi had known Tai since he was a toddler, and could easily recognize his voice so there was no need for him to introduce himself. "I'll go get here."

Tai waited, and seconds later Sora greeted him with a cheery hello. "Hi Sora. I wanted to let you know we made it home alright, and to thank you for coming tonight. You made all the trouble I went through worth it, but once I think about it wasn't really much trouble after all."

"Thank you for waiting for me." Sora was glad Tai couldn't see how badly she was blushing. "And for caring so much..."

"You're welcome. Well, that's all I wanted to say... I love you Sora."

"I love you too Tai." Sora hung up the phone smiling brightly, but she had neglected to notice her mother had been standing behind her almost the entire time. 

"I love you too Tai?" she asked half smiling.

"MAMA!"

Tai sighed contently, and stretched his arms across the back of the couch. Kari sat down next to him, and they smiled at each other.

"Well, I have to hand it to you. Your little scheme sure made things interesting. I think I went from fear to excitement, to the most miserable I think I ever felt, to what has to be the best I've ever felt in my entire life all in about twelve hours."

"Do you regret doing it?" Tai asked.

"Are you kidding?!" Kari laughed. "What I've been feeling over the past hour or so has been well worth everything I've had to go through over the past week."

"Dido," Tai agreed. "There is one thing that's been nagging me though."

"What's that," Kari asked innocently, kind of expecting what was coming. 

"I'm happy for you and all Kari..." Tai said, feeling his overprotective big brother genes kicking in. "But I think you guys are getting a little too friendly too quickly!"

"Come on Tai!" Kari begged off. "All we did was kiss..."

"A long, deep kiss! Just make sure it stays that way! You better be at least eighteen and married before I become an uncle, you understand me!"

"I understand, I understand! Don't you think your jumping the gun just a little."

Tai was about to defend himself, when the sound of the front door opening startled them. Their parents poured inside, grocery bags in hand. "Tai, Kari honey, we're home. Could you give us a hand with the grocery's please?"

"Sure thing mom," they both replied at the same time. 

"So, how were your days? Anything interesting happen while we were out?"

"Ah, nothing really important Mom," Tai said.

"It's been pretty much your average day."

Tai and Kari looked at each other and smiled. They'd tell their parents all about it later, but for now they didn't want a thousand different questions being shot at them. They both went to bed early that evening knowing full well sleep would be near impossible, and who and what would be starring in their dreams before and after they drifted off to sleep. At some point of the night they both laid awake staring at the ceiling smiling, thinking the exact same thing. "God, I wish we'd thought of this sooner."

End.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song lyrics that appeared above, I simply borrowed them for use in this fic just like the characters. Only Casey is from my own creation, whom I simply borrowed from one of my previous fics.

(Well that's it. Hope it wasn't to long and boring. I enjoyed writing it at the very least... I'm kind of sad it's over. Thanks for reading.)


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